The Things We Do For Love
by thereisalight
Summary: Sharpay Evans has always gotten what she wants, no matter the cost. But now she wants something that she can't have: Troy Bolton. Just how far is she willing to go to fulfill her desires? A Troypay story with a twist.
1. Introduction

**Well, its been a very long time since I've posted anything on here, but this story popped into my head the other day, and I thought that I'd give it a try. I already have most of the story written so updates will hopefully come pretty quickly, especially in the first couple of chapters because the story has a bit of a slow start. A little info on the story not covered in the summary: I'm listing this as a Troy/Sharpay story, but its really much more about Sharpay Also, even though she's the main character, and I want to make her sympathetic, Sharpay is going to be doing some pretty bad things over the course of the story (though nothing too melodramatic like murder), so don't expect to be happy with everything that happens. Finally, the story starts pretty tame, but it is M rated and there will be both significant drug use and sexual content, so if those things offend you, you may not want to read. And of course, I own none of the characters or settings.**

Not long ago, Sharpay would have been appalled if someone told her that she would be spending her last day of her Junior year in the East High auditorium watching the Wildcats play two on two, while chatting with Gabriella Montez, Taylor McKessie, and Martha Cox. And yet, Sharpay was sitting in the bleachers, talking with the girls who not long ago had been strangers at best. She still wasn't sure how to feel about them, or any of the group that she had joined almost exclusively because they had befriended her brother. Sharpay had been pleasantly surprised to find that both Martha and Taylor had personalities that weren't completely tied to their Chemistry textbooks, and she didn't even feel too uncomfortable calling them her friends. Even Gabriella (once you got past her sickly sweet personality) had some good qualities. She was fun and easy to talk to, and made a surprisingly good shopping partner, which Sharpay thought of as easily the most important quality in a friend. If not for one single issue, Sharpay hated to admit that she and Gabriella could have become good friends.

Glancing towards the court, Sharpay spotted that issue. He was wearing gym shorts and an East High t-shirt that clung to his sweat-soaked body in a way that made Sharpay never failed to make Sharpay lose her train of thought. In her mind, Troy Bolton was the image of perfection in every way. Not only was she extremely attracted to him, Sharpay found him interesting, amusing, and even brilliant. Even when she had been trying to keep him out of the Winter Musical she knew that she loved his drive and passion. In fact, she knew that she had loved everything about Troy for as long as she had known what love was, and Sharpay knew that if it wasn't for Gabriella, she would be all that Troy thought about. For this, Sharpay knew that she and Gabriella could never be friends.

After seething for a few moments more, Sharpay turned her attention to the other Wildcats. Jason and Chad had taken longer to warm up to her than the others. Chad in particular had taken a while to see her as more than her "Ice Queen" persona, but they had reached a dynamic that may not have been friendly, but generally stayed civil. As usual, Zeke was the one who she thought about last. She generally found his infatuation with her endearing if sometimes tiring. Sometimes she even felt bad for always scorning his adoration, but she knew that her heart was pledged to another, and even if she hadn't loved Troy, Sharpay knew that her and Zeke would never work as a couple. But she certainly did enjoy having someone who so obviously worshiped her and give his affection no matter how poorly she treated him, and she would occasionally give him a glimmer of false hope to keep his infatuation alive.

"Sharpay?" a voiced said questioningly, driving her out of her thoughts. She turned and looked for the source of the voice, and saw that Gabriella had been trying to get her attention. "What is it?" she asked haughtily. Sharpay always used this tone with Gabriella, as a reminder to both herself and the other girl that they could never be too close. "I was just asking if you knew where Ryan and Kelsi are," Gabriella asked.

"Oh, they're working on ideas for the musical next year. Ms. Darbus is letting them write and choreograph next year's Fall Musical. I really don't understand why they're staying after school on the last day to work on it though." Even though she put on a dismissive front, Sharpay knew that both Ryan and Kelsi loved working on music, particularly with each other, and she actually admired the hard work and dedication that they both possessed. Normally she had no problem talking about this pride in her brother and friend, but at the moment she was feeling resentful towards both of them. Ryan and Kelsi were the only two in the group that she could truly consider herself close with, and they had left her with a group that consisted more of acquaintances than friends.

Her and Kelsi may not have had the easiest of relationships, and their communication was mostly made up of intimidation, but underneath that there was a layer of genuine respect. Sharpay may have thought Kelsi's compositions were too bland, but she recognized the level of talent that the other girl had. And Kelsi certainly thought Sharpay was too flashy and obsessed with the spotlight, but she also knew that without those qualities, Sharpay's performances would be much weaker. With Ryan, it was even better. The two were as close as you would expect identical twins who had spent much of their lives without any other real friends to be. They shared almost everything, and always encouraged each other's pursuits both on and off the stage. Ryan was also the only one that could occasionally convince Sharpay that she was wrong. Though far more often she dragged Ryan into her schemes, he was the only one who ever had a prayer at changing his sister's mind.

At that moment the two people she had been thinking about walked into the gym, laughing and chattering excitedly, and joined the girls in the bleachers. "Hey guys, how's the show going?" Martha greeted them. "It's going really well. We started another song today, and I'm really liking it," said Ryan. "Yeah, I think this show will be a lot better than Twinkle Towne. I really love working with Ryan…" Kelsi said, then stopped quickly and looked embarrassed. Ryan returned this comment with a bright smile, and the pair giggled quietly together. This exchange wasn't lost on any of the girls, who looked around at each other with intrigue at this new development between Ryan and Kelsi. It was an open secret among the group that there was something between Ryan and Kelsi, but they had never flirted so blatantly.

After the girls and Ryan talked for a few more minutes, the Wildcats decided to call it a game, and joined their friends in the stands, with Troy and Chad sitting next to Gabriella and Taylor, and Troy greeting Gabriella with a kiss (as usual, Sharpay discreetly glared at Gabriella when her lips met Troy's). "Good game?" Gabriella asked Troy. " I had my favorite cheerleader on the sidelines, of course it was good," he responded sweetly. "So how are we going to celebrate the first day of summer?" Sharpay cut in, more to stop the disgusting display than because she cared about making plans. "My parents said I could have people over," Jason said, "does 7 work for everyone?" There were no arguments, so the group agreed to meet that night at Jason's house and went their separate ways.

**Hope you liked the first chapter. I'm sorry if it is a little slow, but it's more of an introduction to the characters. The actual plot will begin in the next couple of chapters. Please review and let me know what you thought, positive or negative.**

**Thanks again.**


	2. Diary

**A few of the chapters in this story will consist mostly or partially of Sharpay writing her thoughts in her diary. I'm doing this because I had initially planned on writing the story from Sharpay's point of view, but that was getting limiting, so I'm using third person for most of the story but using these chapters to show Sharpay's thoughts more clearly. Hope you enjoy **

As soon as she and Ryan walked into their house, Sharpay went upstairs and found her favorite item in the world. It wasn't a dress or a pair of shoes, or even one of her many accessories, it was her diary. There had been many times when she thought that it was the only thing that kept her sanity in place. She could tell it her most selfish and personal thoughts without fear of judgment, something that even Ryan couldn't offer. Though she was usually able to share what was going on in her life with him, he had gotten over his fear of telling his sister that she shouldn't do certain things. Other topics were too personal even for Ryan's ears. Things such as her feelings for Troy fell into both categories, so for them, Sharpay turned to the small pink notebook that was her most trusted confidant.

Dear Diary,

School was pretty dull today, but I guess last days always are. I hung out with the Wildcats again afterwards, and will be doing so again tonight. I have been spending WAY too much time with jocks and nerds. Its really not right. But I guess they aren't that bad, and having real friends who don't talk or even care about status is actually sort of nice, of course I'd never say that in public.

I may be starting to like them a little, but that hasn't kept me from forgetting the real reason I give them all my time: him. In English today, I swore that I saw him looking at me. Its so obvious that we want the exact same thing. He's just too afraid to make it happen, especially since he's got the Math Girl constantly hanging at his side. I know everyone thinks they're so happy and perfect together. But I know the truth and I can tell that they're going to end soon. I give them another month before they can't stand each other anymore. By then, he'll realize how he really feels about me. In fact, I'll promise you that by the end of the summer, he'll be mine and I'll be his, and Gabriella will never stand in our way again.

Speaking of new relationships, there is DEFINITELY something between Ryan and Kelsi. I'm actually really happy for both of them. They deserve each other, and Ryan's been pining after her for who knows how long, so maybe he'll finally stop whining about it. I just hope that they aren't too shy to make a move on each other. I mean, whenever they look at each other its so disgustingly obvious that they want each other, but the second that it seems like they might start to make things official, one of them runs away. Ryan deserves more than that, and Kelsi does too. If anyone is good enough for Ryan, its her, so they'd better stop dancing around it and make a move, or I'm going to have to do it for them. If it takes my meddling for them to be happy, then I'm alright with that. Actually, this seems like the perfect situation for a bit of meddling. I know that everyone thinks I make these little plans just to help myself, but really its just that I care about the people involved enough to help them get what they want. Is it my fault that I know what people want better than they do? No. All I know is that he wants her and she wants him, and if they can't make that happen then I will.

**Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, and the fact that the plot hasn't really started (things start to get moving next chapter). Any thoughts that you have would be greatly appreciated though.**


	3. Three Little Painful Words

**This is kind of the first "real" chapter, or at least where the character introduction ends and the plot starts to pick up. Hope you enjoy (and Ryan/Kelsi fans are in for a bit of a treat).**

The ride to Jason's house was pretty quiet until Sharpay nonchalantly asked her brother "So what's going on between you and Kelsi?" As she expected, he met her question with nothing but stammering and feigned ignorance. "Oh come on Ryan, everyone knows you guys are into each other."

"Really?" Ryan asked timidly. "I'm pretty sure even Chad's figured it out by now. If he knows, everyone knows. So what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know," Ryan said, shifting in his seat. "I mean, yeah I guess I like her but I don't think she…"

"If you're about to say that she doesn't feel the same way then you can just shut up, because she's obviously head over heels for you, and don't even pretend that you haven't realized it."

"I mean, maybe…" Ryan began, but Sharpay continued lecturing her brother. "If you don't do anything about it then she's going to think that you aren't interested and she'll move on. You don't want that do you?" She asked, stopping the car in front of Jason's house. "I guess not," Ryan said, resigned to his sister's speech. He secretly liked it when his sister became demanding like this, at least when what she was demanding was his own happiness and not a selfish whim of her own. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to…ask her out." Ryan said, knowing that this was the only answer that would let him leave the car. "When?" she demanded.

"I don't know…there's never really been a good time to do it," he said, even though he knew that it wouldn't be a suitable answer. "Oh please Ryan, you guys are alone all the time."

"Yeah, talking about music and writing together. I never know how to turn the subject away from music. And all the other times we're together it's in a big group."

"So if I can arrange for you two to be together with no one else around, you would ask her out?" This was the point in the conversation that Sharpay had been hoping to reach, and she knew that she had won when Ryan responded, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Well then, let's go get you a girlfriend." Sharpay said as she opened the door and headed towards Jason's, leaving Ryan to wonder what the night would hold for him.

When Ryan and Sharpay walked into Jason's house, the gang had already arrived and greeted them warmly. "So Evans, why didn't you join us for hoops after school today?" Chad asked, "think you're getting too good for us?" he teased, though his tone was friendly. "No, I just thought if I wanted to embarrass myself there are plenty of ways to do that without breaking a sweat," Ryan joked. Sharpay didn't know why Ryan said things like that. She had watched him play with the guys and could tell that, while he may not have been at their level, he could at the very least hold his own. Sharpay never understood why, in a world where everyone wanted to get ahead, people like her brother willingly held themselves back.

Realizing that she shouldn't analyze every offhand comment that her brother made, she rejoined the conversation. "So what are we doing?" Taylor asked. "Yeah, do you have any beer?" Chad asked hopefully, earning an eye-roll from his girlfriend. Sharpay knew that Taylor had no objection to drinking, and liked to party almost as much as her boyfriend (once she had finished her homework, of course). But she also respected Taylor's ability to show discretion, and didn't comment on the other girl's hypocrisy. Instead, Sharpay focused on how she would get her brother and Kelsi alone together. Because of that, she was somewhat disappointed to hear Jason say that there was no alcohol in the house, as Sharpay knew that Ryan could have used a little liquid courage.

"We could watch a movie though," Jason suggested, pointing to the extremely large collection of movies that he and his family had amassed. Everyone seemed agreeable to that idea, so Sharpay prepared herself for the inevitable debate over which movie to watch. It always went the same way, with the guys wanting to watch something with sports or action, and the girls wanting to watch a romance. The debates usually devolved into an argument between Chad and Taylor (which Sharpay found amusing though tiring) or a cutesy disagreement between Troy and Gabriella (which Sharpay loathed). Occasionally Jason, the prospective film major, would shout out a suggestion for a movie that no one else had heard of, citing its "awesome cinematography." Though the others seemed to get tired of these suggestions, it was in those moments that Sharpay actually appreciated Jason. She had more than enough experience with ignorance regarding the arts to respect Jason's attempts to enlighten his friends, even if his favorite films bored her as much as anyone else.

By the time that the group had reached a compromise and put in the DVD, Sharpay was thinking more about seating arrangements than movies. When her and Ryan had come in, they had sat next to each other on the couch, with Kelsi in a chair in the other corner of the room. This would not do, so Sharpay suddenly complained "Is anyone else seeing a glare in the tv?"

"No, I'm fine," said Martha, who sat on the other side of Sharpay. This comment earned her a death glare from the blonde, surprising and quieting Martha. "I could turn out the light." Jason suggested. "No, that's fine," Sharpay said as if this was an absurd idea. "Kelsi, trade seats with me," she said quickly. "Um,why me?" Kelsi asked quietly. "You're the shortest, the angle is best for you," Sharpay said. She knew that this explanation was ridiculous, but she also knew that if she sounded confident no one would question her. "Alright then," Kelsi said, still looking confused. "You know, there's a space next to me," Zeke piped up hopefully. "So there is," Sharpay condescendingly shot back at Zeke, "come on Kelsi, let's trade."

As they traded seats, forcing Ryan and Kelsi closer, everyone's face mirrored a mixture of Kelsi's confusion and Zeke's frustration. Everyone except for Ryan, who looked at his sister with a mixture of disbelief and gratitude. Sharpay also realized that Gabriella was smiling coyly at her. Obviously, she knew what Sharpay had been up to. Sharpay grudgingly admired the brunette's intuitiveness, but didn't return the smile because she knew that if she looked even looked in the other girl's direction she would be unable to display anything but hatred at the fact that Troy's impressive arms were wrapped so tightly around her, so Sharpay pretended not to notice Gabriella's acknowledgement and stared at the TV screen.

As the movie went on, Sharpay's spirits raised somewhat. She had decided how to get Ryan and Kelsi alone together, and playing matchmaker for the two of them was helping to keep her glance away from Troy's gorgeous deep blue eyes, and his strong but gentle hands that were wrapped firmly around Gabriella.

When the final credits started to roll, Sharpay knew that it was time to put her plan into action, and began with the words: "Well I don't know about everyone else, but I could use a drink. Anyone else?" she asked as she stood up and headed for the kitchen. Fortunately, everyone else seemed thirsty as well, and just about everyone started shouting out drink requests. "You know, I'm not your maid," she said to the group with mock indignation. "How about everyone get something for themselves."

Fortunately, the room was left with only two people seated. Unfortunately, one of them was the wrong one. Kelsi had gotten up to get herself a drink, while Chad remained seated. "Oh, Kelsi I can get you something," Sharpay said sweetly, "it's the least I can do after you saved me from that awful glare," Sharpay was smiling, but she practically forced Kelsi back onto the couch as she spoke. "Chad, come on," said Sharpay, her voice becoming much sterner almost instantly. "I'm not thirsty," he shrugged. Before Sharpay could threaten him, Gabriella broke in, "actually, there's something that I have to tell you. But I have to say it in the kitchen," she told Chad, looking over at Sharpay and giving a small wink that seemed to say that she knew what was happening and she was more than happy to help. Sharpay didn't think much of Gabriella's attempt to move Chad. It was far too obvious for her taste, but apparently it had been good enough, and Chad joined the rest of the group in the kitchen.

"What was that about?" Chad asked when they went into the kitchen. "Sharpay and I were trying to get Ryan and Kelsi alone together so that he can finally ask her out," Gabriella said. Though she didn't show it, this comment infuriated the blonde. It was her plan from the start, Gabriella just happened to jump into it. She had no right to take credit. The others seemed to miss her anger though, as they were too caught up in congratulating the two girls and talking about how good of a couple Kelsi and Ryan would make. Troy in particular was especially impressed. "That's really cool of you guys," Troy said, though it was obvious that the words were directed at Gabriella. "You know," he continued, and his demeanor suddenly became serious, "I really love how much you care about others," he told Gabriella as their bodies seemed to go even closer to each other. "Oh…thanks," the brunette said, not trying to hide the blush on her face. "I'm not just saying that I think you're nice though," Troy said, and Sharpay suddenly felt a sense of impending doom. "I guess what I'm saying is…every minute of the past few months has been great for me, and for that…well I love you Gabi."

Time stopped. Sharpay refused to believe it. For the guy she loved to be professing his love for another girl, it had to be a cruel joke. But in the rest of the room, things continued in celebration. Troy and Gabriella were kissing lightly but passionately as Taylor and Martha sighed happily to each other. "This is such an exciting night!" Martha exclaimed when Troy and Gabi pulled away from each other. "Yup," Sharpay unable to keep her voice from raising several decibels. "I'm going to go use the restroom. Excuse me." She had managed to keep a civil tone, but Sharpay thought she would burst if she didn't get out of the room immediately.

She had no intention of going to the bathroom, but instead paced around the nearest room that she could find. After a minute, or perhaps an hour, had passed she heard an unexpected voice. "I'm pretty sure this isn't the bathroom, unless I've been doing it wrong all these years."

Sharpay turned to see Chad in the doorway. "What do you want?" she asked disdainfully, if only to hide the unsteadiness of her voice. "Just checking if you're alright."

"And why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, I always figured you kind of had something for Bolton," he said casually, "don't worry. I'm pretty sure no one else knows," he said, noticing the worry that she tried to keep off her face. "I…do…not…like…Troy Bolton," she said slowly. "Look I know you don't think much of me, but I'm not stupid. I've seen the way you look at him when you don't think anyone's looking. And that disappearing act you pulled when he told Gabi that he loves her kind of confirms it, don't you think?"

"For your information, I left because I'm not feeling well. And your presence isn't helping that at all." Chad was clearly taken aback by this comment. "Hey Ice Princess, I'm just trying to help. Next time I won't bother," and left the room.

After a few minutes, Sharpay had regained her composure and forced herself to walk back living room. She noticed that Ryan and Kelsi were sitting even closer than they had been before and kept giving each other coy glances. But this was only a small consolation for her. After chatting for a few minutes, Sharpay repeated her story about not feeling well and left after making sure that Ryan had another ride home. "I can walk you out," Zeke said before she left but she stopped him. "Do you really think I'm too stupid to find the door?" she asked venomously, directing all the anger she had at Gabriella towards him with that small statement, and the second she entered her car, she let the tears overcome her.

**Hope you enjoyed. Now that the plot is sort of becoming more clear, I'd really appreciate a bit of feedback, whether positive or negative. This story is pretty different than any I've ever written, so I'm curious as to how people think its going. Thanks again.**


	4. Diary Pt 2

**Thank you very much to everyone who read and reviewed/alerted the last chapter. Special thanks to gossipgirlfan101, The Summer Breeze, LaPush'sSheWolf, beccaletulle, andSabregirlus18 for giving me my first reviews for the story.**

Dear Diary,

I'm done with crying. It has never done anything for anyone, and I won't be one of those girls that lets herself waste away over a guy. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm giving up on Troy. It just means that things are going to get a bit more complicated. I was wrong when I didn't think that Troy didn't really have feelings for her. He does feel something for her, but I'm absolutely positive that he doesn't really love her. Like anything in life, if you know which buttons to press, their "love" will be revealed as weak and superficial, just like the Math Girl.

Now I just need to know how to show Troy and Gabriella just how weak his relationship is. If last night taught me anything, its that Troy is a hopeless romantic who lets his emotions blind him. There's nothing wrong with that of course. Its yet another reason why I love him, but it could make showing him how flimsy his relationship is more difficult. Troy's romantic streak combined with the Math Girl's disgusting perfection make it unlikely for him to break up with her, at least anytime soon. Instead, I have to make her break up with him. I'm still not positive how to do this, but trust me, I'll find a way. In the meantime, there's plenty to be done. First, I have to befriend her. I don't just mean seeing her as an acquaintance who I only talk to because we have the same friends. I mean genuine friendship (well, genuine might not be the best word for it). But I need to get to the point where I become the one who she turns to with all of her questions and problems, particularly in the boyfriend department. That's the only way that I can turn her against Troy and show them both that they aren't meant to be. And even more, when the plan does work, being her friend will keep her from suspecting me. I'm not sure that I can take hearing about her babbling about how much she loves Troy and how happy they are, but I'm an actress and I gladly accept this role. From this day on, me and Gabriella Montez are going to be best friends.

There are still a few other issues standing in my way. The first is Chad Danforth. I should have taken care of him when he first approached me about Troy. If I had been more composed and thought of a better lie he would have moved on to whatever it is he spends his time doing, but instead I made him even more suspicious. But that's a small oversight, and its something that I can fix. If I don't get to him it could ruin everything. After all, (for some reason) he is Troy's best friend, and I can't see him being too happy about me and Troy dating, both because we have never gotten along too well, and because he seems to be quite fond of Gabriella.

Unfortunately, my final obstacle is my own brother. Obviously I love Ryan, but if anyone can see through me, its him. And I can't see him going along with this scheme. Fortunately I should be having some help in that area from a Ms. Kelsi Nielsen, also known as Ryan's new girlfriend. I really am happy that they are together, but hopefully their relationship will have the added benefit of distracting Ryan from noticing anything that his sister may be doing that he doesn't entirely approve of. The last thing I need is him messing things up for me and Troy. But if Ryan's calendar is any indication (Kelsi's name is on it more times than I care to count), he won't be too much of a problem.

Well, I have to go now. I need to make plans with Gabriella, or as the rest of the world will know her, my new best friend.

**Hope you enjoyed. since this was a pretty short chapter, the next update should be up pretty quick. Let me know what you thought.**

**Thank you for reading.**


	5. The Plan Begins

**Thanks for everyone who reviewed the last chapter. The introductory parts are pretty much over, so I think the story really starts to take off starting with this chapter.**

The phone rang three times before Sharpay heard the voice of Gabriella Montez on the other end. "Hello?" she said. "Hi Gabriella, this is Sharpay."

"Oh…hi Sharpay…how are you feeling?" she asked, clearly surprised that Sharpay was calling her. "Oh I'm doing much better. I think I just ate something bad yesterday. But everything's fine."

"I'm glad to hear that," Gabriella said in the overly polite tone that never failed to make Sharpay want to strangle someone. "That's not why I'm calling though."

"Oh," said Gabriella, "so…why are you calling?" she asked, hoping that Sharpay wouldn't confuse her confusion for rudeness. "Well to be honest, I want to make things right between us," Sharpay told the brunette girl. "I didn't know that things were wrong."

"Well, maybe not wrong. But I don't think I ever warmed up to you, and there's really no reason for that. So, I want to make peace once and for all."

"You know, I'd like that too," Gabriella said. She had noticed Sharpay's coldness towards her, but assumed that it was just the blonde's personality, combined with some bitterness about not getting the lead role in the Winter Musical.

"So how about we do something together?" Sharpay said casually. "Yeah, that sounds great," Gabriella said. "Does today work for you?"

"Yeah, as long as we don't stay out too long. I'm going to dinner with Troy." Sharpay felt a sharp pang in her stomach at these words, but quickly recovered. "Fabulous!…I'll pick you up at 1 and we can go to the mall."

Sharpay and Gabriella had a surprisingly nice time together. Each girl was finding the other very easy and pleasant to talk to and they discussed everything from college plans to music to gossip. For the whole day Sharpay had been witty, friendly, and had even been able to hide her grimaces whenever Gabriella mentioned Troy (which happened more than Sharpay had hoped). "I didn't know that you could be like this," Gabriella admitted as her and Sharpay sat on a bench in the center of the mall. "And I'm sorry about that," Sharpay said, sounding (and almost but not quite feeling) genuine, "like I said, I really have no excuse for my behavior towards you."

"Well to be fair, I guess I didn't make things easy for you at first either. I know that I can sometimes come off a little strong, like all that I care about is being perfect."

"Well anyone who thinks that obviously doesn't know the real you," Sharpay said smiling. "So, how are things with Troy?" Sharpay knew that this would not be an easy conversation to have, but it was a necessary step in her plan, so braced herself for the most difficult acting job of her life. Gabriella, on the other hand, looked extremely glad that Sharpay had asked. "Oh wow, it's all just…fantastic. That's the only words I can think to describe him, and everything to do with him. I've never met anyone like him and…well you saw last night."

"Yeah, Troy's certainly one for theatrics," Sharpay said, forcing a smile onto her face. "I know!" Gabriella exclaimed, "I would have thought I'd be horrified of someone being so open about their emotions in front of other people but with Troy it's…different. I don't know. He helps me do things that I never thought I'd be doing."

"Oh?" Sharpay said, hiding her horror at Gabriella's vague statement. "Yeah…actually, can you keep a secret?" Gabriella asked as she leaned in closer to Sharpay. "Of course," Sharpay said, making her fabricated smile even larger. "I think we might sleep together soon," Gabriella said in little more than a whisper.

Sharpay knew that the conversation would inevitably turn to more…adult subjects and had prepared herself for it, but Gabriella's words still hurt. "So, you haven't already?"

"No…should we have?" Gabriella asked, and even in her state of angst, Sharpay couldn't help but find Gabriella's hesitance endearing. "I think you should wait as long as you feel comfortable, and don't let him rush you into anything," Sharpay said, trying to emphasize the 'wait' part. "Oh don't worry about that," Gabriella said, "Troy's been really patient, and you know, he's never done it, either. So it isn't like he's expecting anything."

"Troy said he hasn't slept with anyone?" Sharpay said, instantly beginning to construct a plan in her mind. "He says he wants to wait until it's with someone who really means something to him," Gabi said with admiration and pride in her voice. "Are you sure that's exactly what he said?" Sharpay asked, making sure to strike a tentative note in her voice. "Yeah…why?" Gabriella asked worriedly. "Well, I don't know anything for sure, but I've definitely heard things about the basketball after-parties. Don't worry, it's probably all pointless gossip but then again…who knows? And Troy's a pretty popular guy. Before you came along, he could have had pretty much any girl he wanted," Sharpay felt a small pang of guilt at these words, since at the very least they were exaggerations, but she couldn't resist such a perfect opportunity to stir doubt in Gabriella. "I guess you're right," Gabriella said, not trying to hide her worry. "Of course I don't know anything for sure. And you have no reason to not trust Troy's word," Sharpay said, feigning encouragement, though she was happy to see that her words did not seem to help Gabriella's demeanor. "So, why are you being so open about this stuff with me?" Sharpay asked, "I mean, I've had a great time today too but you don't seem like the type to go into such personal details this easily."

Gabriella waited a second before answering. "I guess I don't really have anyone else to talk about it with. I mean, I would be way too embarrassed to even say the word sex with my mom, and Martha and Kelsi and Taylor are great, but Martha and Kelsi are both pretty…inexperienced, and I can't have a conversation about boys with Taylor without her bringing up all the reasons not to trust the entire 'male species'. I really don't understand how she hasn't broken up with Chad by now. I mean, even I sometimes get the feeling that he's hiding something from her, and I'm far more trusting and forgiving than Taylor."

:"Well, I guess sometimes you don't see what you don't want to see," Sharpay said simply, but her mind was somewhere else. Gabriella's words about Chad had intrigued her. She still wasn't sure how to deal with his suspicions, but if there was anything to the brunette's 'hiding something' statement, then it could serve as her perfect opportunity. As she thought about this, an unexpected voice said, "why hello ladies." It was Troy, joined by Chad. "Hey Wildcat!" Gabi said perkily, jumping up to kiss her boyfriend. Sharpay still hated to see them together but had gotten better at hiding this, especially because she knew that Chad would be studying her face for anything suspicious. "What are you guys doing here?" Troy asked. "Just a girls' day out," Gabriella said, "I should be asking you the same thing. Don't you to have business to attend to involving a basketball court and a round orange ball?" asked Gabi. "I had to get my mom a birthday present," Troy said nonchalantly, though as he said this, he coyly put a small bag into his pocket. Sharpay recognized the label on the bag as being from a jewelry store in the mall, and Gabriella obviously did as well as she flirtatiously asked "you're really spending a lot of money for your mom this year aren't you?" To this, Troy responded "well I really love my mom," clearly attempting to sound clever, though everyone present knew that the contents of the bag were not intended for his mother. Sharpay thought she would be ill if Troy and Gabriella continued flirting like this. Fortunately she was spared by Chad who said, "why don't you guys go ahead. I need to talk to Sharpay for a second." Never ones to refuse time alone, Troy and Gabriella left without question. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked Sharpay as soon as the couple had gotten out of earshot, his tone becoming suddenly hostile. "I don't know what you're talking about," Sharpay casually shot back. This time, she was ready for Chad's questioning. "Come on, you and Gabriella never hang out alone, then the day after Troy, the guy you have feelings for, tells her that he loves her you're giggling together in the middle of the mall?" Chad asked skeptically. "First of all, Chad, I do not have feelings for Troy, as I have already told you. And secondly, while I have no clue what you're trying to imply, maybe you shouldn't be so eager to catch me doing something wrong because I just might know about something wrong that you've done," Sharpay said ominously, causing Chad to hesitate for just a second, though Sharpay was surprised and grudgingly impressed at how quickly he hid it. Sharpay didn't actually know anything about him, but the slight moment of hesitation confirmed what Gabriella had told her: Chad had a secret.

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but I do know that you need to leave my friends alone. Whatever you're planning, just stop it. Troy and Gabi are really happy together. The absolute best you can hope for is to tear them apart and make three people miserable instead of just one. I tried to be nice about it but that didn't work, so I'll be blunt: Troy isn't interested in you and he never will be. We're best friends, we tell each other everything. If he had ever felt the slightest attraction to you, I would know. So stop wasting your time."

Chad's words had their desired effect, and Sharpay felt herself starting to break. Not caring to hide her misery anymore she fought back her tears long enough to venomously spit out the words "Goodbye Chad," and turn away, hating herself for letting the mindless jock get to her again.

When she got to her car she forced her tears to subside just long enough to take out her phone and find the number she was looking for. After a couple of rings, the phone was picked up and a voice answered "hello?"

**Ooh, this whole cliffhanger thing is pretty fun. Who do you think Sharpay is calling? **

**As always I'd appreciate any thoughts or constructive criticism that you have on the chapter and story in general. **

**Thanks for reading.**


	6. A Pleasant Distraction

**Thanks for everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter. A quick note on this one: its probably one of the more sexually explicit things I've written. To be honest I'm not usually a fan of that type of story, and I never like writing about sex just for the sake of writing about sex, but I think it can be both useful and important to a story, and I think that in this case it plays a big role in character development, so hopefully you can appreciate this as more than just a chapter involving sexual topics.**

"Zeke, come to my house tonight at 8," Sharpay said stoically over the phone, not even bothering to ask if he had other plans. "Um, okay…sure," Zeke said, sounding confused but also delighted. "Is something wrong?" he asked her, knowing that this wasn't as simple as he wanted it to be. "I'll talk to you about it tonight," she told him. "Yeah, I'll be there," he said, and after it became clear that Sharpay wouldn't give any other details, he said goodbye.

When Sharpay got home, she had regained her composure and had erased any signs of tears from her face, but none of this mattered as she was greeted by a sight that knocked all other thoughts from her mind. On her couch, Ryan and Kelsi lay doing what she supposed could be called kissing, though from her angle it looked more like they were trying to eat each other's faces. It wasn't until Sharpay loudly cleared her throat that the couple separated, looking very embarrassed. "I'd say get a room but I think it's a little late for that," she said with a smile, sitting down in the place where Ryan had formerly been assaulting Kelsi with his mouth. "I, um…I should get going," Kelsi said quickly as she grabbed her glasses and a blue hat off of the coffee table. "Kelsi," Ryan stopped her quickly, "are we still on for dinner tonight?"

"Yeah, pick me up at 7?"

"Definitely, oh and Kelsi," Ryan said again. "Yes?" Kelsi asked, looking like she would rather be anywhere else but in the Evans' living room. "You grabbed the wrong hat," Ryan said, gesturing to the more feminine looking hat that still lie on the table. He too was very embarrassed, but Ryan was more used to Sharpay's berating, and unlike his girlfriend he was able to see at least a little humor in the situation. "Oh right," Kelsi said and walked quickly back to the living room, though she mustered the courage to give Ryan a quick kiss before leaving this time, though this time it was a much more demure kiss with her lips tightly pursed, and as she walked out her eyes warily watched Sharpay for any signs of attack.

After Kelsi was gone, Sharpay leaned back and glanced at her brother. "Wow Ry, you don't waste any time," she said. "Well to be fair we waited two years, and to be honest I don't see the need to put it off any longer," he defended. "No argument here," Sharpay said good naturedly, "though I'd rather not have anyone calling me Aunt Sharpay before graduating high school."

"Oh please, we weren't going to do anything like that," Ryan assured her, "I really like Kelsi and the past day has been great, but neither of us are ready for…that," he told his sister, though not feeling comfortable enough to say 'sex' in front of her.

Sharpay decided to give her brother a break for now, particularly because she knew that she had more important issues to deal with, "So Ryan, you and Chad get along pretty well right?" she asked casually.

"Um, yeah I guess so," Ryan said, though that was an understatement. Since Ryan had befriended the Wildcats, Chad was the one with whom he got along with the best. Even though the two boys seemed to have almost nothing in common, Ryan and Chad were very comfortable around each other, and Sharpay knew that they talked to each other about a large variety of subjects, even very personal ones. Sharpay hoped that she would be able to use this to her advantage. "Do you ever notice anything weird about him?" Sharpay asked.

"What do you mean? And why do you care about Chad so much all of a sudden?" Ryan asked, starting to sound suspicious. He knew that whenever his sister took a seemingly random interest in someone, there was almost always an ulterior motive behind her interest. "I thought I noticed something weird between him and Taylor last night and I just want to make sure that everything is okay with them," Sharpay lied without missing a beat. "Really?" Ryan asked, "So you only care about helping him and Taylor?"

"That's all," Sharpay told her brother, "Look Ryan, I guess the whole matchmaker thing is kind of nice. I mean, it ended up great for you and Kelsi, why wouldn't I want to make more people that happy?"

"Okay, fine," Ryan said and stopped questioning his sister, partially because her explanation satisfied him and partially because he didn't want Sharpay to hold the fact that she was largely responsible for his new relationship over his head. "So, anything?" she prodded. After thinking for a minute he spoke, "yeah, there is something going on with him. I don't know what it is, but sometimes he just stops acting like himself and gets kind of quiet, and doesn't joke around like he usually does. Whenever that happens he seems to take it out on Taylor more than anyone else. I mean, usually they argue constantly, but you can tell that it's just how they relate, but he won't even argue with her, just sort of mutter a few words whenever she says anything. And…well there was one time about a week ago when he was particularly bad and she tried to kiss him goodbye, but he just sort of shook her off. I didn't think much of it at the time but it was pretty weird," Ryan said, looking concerned. "Do you think he's cheating on her?" Sharpay asked, echoing his concern, the only difference being that his was genuine. "No," Ryan said firmly, "Chad hates cheaters. His mom cheated on his dad before their divorce. He would never do that to someone."

"You're positive?" Sharpay asked. "Definitely," confirmed Ryan. This was discouraging for Sharpay. If Chad had been cheating on Taylor it would be easy enough to catch him, get evidence, and blackmail him into silence. "But there's something going on, and I want to know what it is," Ryan said, his voice becoming very determined. "You should do that. If you're friend is in trouble you owe it to him to find out what it is," Sharpay encouraged, glad that Ryan wouldn't take any further prodding to do her work for her.

Zeke slowly walked to the Evans' door and rang the bell, not sure what to expect. After a few seconds, Sharpay answered, wearing a short skirt and a revealing blouse. Zeke could tell that she had spent even longer than usual working on her appearance, and took this as a good sign. "Come in," Sharpay said in a sultry voice.

"I brought cookies," Zeke said as they walked up to Sharpay's room. He had been nervous ever since Sharpay's mysterious call, and baking was all he could do to release his nerves. "Oh that's sweet. But I didn't bring you hear to eat cookies," Sharpay said, placing the container on her dresser, "sit down."

Zeke did so, sitting on her bed with a sense of nervous excitement that was heightened when she sat down close enough that their bodies were nearly touching. "So why did you invite me?" Zeke asked. Sharpay took a deep breath before answering, as if confirming a decision in her mind "Because you're someone who worships me unconditionally, and who has wanted me for a very long time. And I've had a very bad day today. Someone said something that made me feel very bad, and to be perfectly honest all I want right now is to feel desired and beautiful, and I know that you're capable of doing that."

"Who said something to you?" Zeke said sounding alarmed, "do you want to talk about it?"

"No Zeke, I'm done with talking. I want something completely different," Sharpay said looking him in the eye and slowly stroking his leg with her hand. "So what does this mean…between us?" Zeke asked, wanting to be sure what he was getting into, though Sharpay's touch was making it difficult for him to care. "It doesn't mean anything," Sharpay said bluntly, "we aren't going to be dating, it won't even make us better friends. We're just two people who need to be close to someone else, even we have very different reasons."

"I can't take advantage of you like that. I mean, trust me…I want this," he said gesturing to her hand that had dangerously started to work its way up his leg, "but I don't want it without you truly wanting me in return. I don't want you to only care about having a warm body next to yours." Zeke sounded stern but he didn't stop her hand, and Sharpay knew that despite his words, he was hers. "Look Zeke, I'm giving you a choice here. You can have my body, at least this once, or you can have nothing, and I'll go back to rejecting you every day of your life. For once, why don't you just do what we both know you want, and forget about the consequences?" After a few seconds, Zeke's defenses dropped completely, and he leaned in to kiss her fiercely. Sharpay was somewhat surprised at the confidence Zeke was showing, but she knew how long she had made him wait for this. "Wait," Zeke said," after a few minutes. "What's wrong?"

"Do you have um, protection?" Zeke asked, reminding Sharpay that she had one more condition to lay out. "Oh, that won't be necessary. I'm sorry I didn't explain that," she said without an ounce of regret in her voice. Sharpay was a virgin, and had decided a long time ago that she would wait for Troy. "Oh…that's okay. I don't think I'm ready for that anyway…"

Sharpay broke him off by resuming their kiss. She felt his tongue press gently against her lips and she opened her mouth just enough to grant him access. Zeke couldn't control himself any more. He knew that what he was doing was wrong. He knew that it would hurt him in the end (and though he hated himself for thinking it, he hoped it would hurt her in the end too), but for now, all he could think about what the intoxicating scent of Sharpay's skin and the delicate taste of her mouth. He lifted his hands into her shirt and started to slowly knead her breasts through her bra. As a result, he felt her reciprocate and work up her hand up his leg and unbutton his jeans, then stroked him gently. By now, Sharpay's tongue had worked its way into Zeke's mouth, though she separated long enough so that Zeke could remove her shirt. After doing so, his mouth worked down to her neck, and he sucked and kissed the area just above her collarbone, eliciting quiet moans from Sharpay. After unhooking her bra, Zeke moved his kisses to her breasts, flicking one of her nipples with his tongue while continuing to slowly massage the other.

Lying Sharpay down on her bed, he maneuvered his hand to her skirt, and pushed aside her panties, feeling a good deal of moisture coming from her. Keeping his mouth on her breasts he slowly entered a finger into her, feeling a jolt through her body as he did so. He started to thrust his finger in and out of her, and without stopping the kisses on her breasts, he gradually increased his speed, making Sharpay's moans louder until he could tell that she had reached her release. Sharpay lay on the bed, looking quite satisfied with herself, then moved her hand towards Zeke's waist, but he moved away unexpectedly. "Come on Zeke, I want to return the favor," she said seductively. "No, that's okay," Zeke said, almost apologetically as he buttoned his jeans. There was little more that he wanted than to accept her offer, particularly since their activities had made him harder than he had ever been in his life, but he knew that he couldn't accept. He loved her too much to see her as just a source of pleasure. It was one thing for him to make her feel good, but she was obviously not in a healthy state, and Zeke felt bad enough for taking advantage of that."Alright," she said, sounding a little disappointed, though still very satisfied with what had just happened. "I'm just going to go now," Zeke told her after she had fully dressed. "You left your cookies," Sharpay told him. "Keep them," Zeke said as he walked out the door.

**Hopefully you liked the chapter. I'd definitely appreciate your thoughts, because I'm not positive that it works in the way I was hoping it to.**

**Thank you for reading.**


	7. Diary Pt 3

**I'm very, very, very sorry it's been so long since I last updated. School has been fairly crazy, but hopefully the next few updates won't be so slow. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

Dear Diary,

Wow, what a day. When I woke up today, I never thought that things would be so different by the time I went to sleep. I have to say, I'm not totally proud of everything that I did, but it was all necessary for my plan. I spent most of the day with Gabriella, and I have to admit, I had a good time. Sure, I hated when she mentioned Troy, but other than that, we had a very nice time. If I wasn't so positive that Troy is destined to be with me, I would almost feel bad about splitting them up. But of course, I didn't hang out with her to have fun and chat. I did it to get information and to start driving her away from Troy, and the day was a fabulous success for both of those goals. No matter how flirty and perky she was when she met up with Troy, I know that my words got to her. I mean, I pretty much told her not only that Troy has probably slept around, but that he lied to her about it. And I don't even feel bad for saying those things about him. Let's be honest, everything I told her was probably true. Girls throw themselves at Troy all the time, and after a few drinks, I'm sure Troy wouldn't be able to help himself. Gabriella's problem is that she doesn't see Troy's true potential, and thinks that he's just an innocent plaything of hers. But I know the truth, and when Troy and I are together, I'll show him the respect he deserves, and with a girlfriend as great as me, he won't even think about cheating. I know I was worried about her the other day, but now I know that she doesn't stand a chance.

I also figured out how to deal with Danforth. The details are a little unclear still, but I'm POSITIVE that he has a secret that he doesn't want anyone to know about. The look on his face when I said that I had something on him was priceless. Now, I just need to know what that something is, and he won't bother me anymore. But he really has been getting to me. I don't know how he does it, but he knows just what to say to make me absolutely hate myself and everything around me. I'm not worried though. It will all just make revenge a little bit sweeter. Hell, maybe I'll tell everyone about his secret anyway, just to get back at him. After all, he needs to learn that you DO NOT mess with Sharpay Evans and get away with it.

The night with Zeke was easily the most unexpected part of the day. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I was surprised and even a little upset when he left early. I'm still not sure why he did that. I mean, it couldn't be because he wasn't having a good time. He was obviously enjoying himself, and let's be honest…its me. Why wouldn't he be enjoying himself. But I do feel a little bad about putting him in that situation. Zeke deserves to be with someone who really appreciates him, and who would appreciate his dedication. I know that everyone thinks I'm cold because I always turn him down, but what would they have me do? I'm not going to pretend to like him when I feel absolutely nothing towards him. I suppose what I did tonight was a little cruel, but even I can only handle rejection so much until I hit the breaking point, and tonight was that point. I'm not proud of everything that I did today, and I won't be proud of everything that I plan to do in the next few days, but it will all be worth it in the end when my plan works out and me and me and Troy can be happy together.

Speaking of the plan, I've come up with an addition. I need to get closer with Troy. When him and Gabriella are finished, he needs to know that I'll be there for him, and that I'm interested in more than friendship. Maybe if I had done those things a while ago I wouldn't be caught in this mess now, and Troy would be lying next to me right now, as happy as anyone's ever been. In addition, becoming closer with Troy will help the plan. I know how to create mistrust between him and Gabriella, but I still need a way to completely drive them apart. To do that, I need to find a weakness. Troy isn't perfect. I know that because if he was he would see that Gabriella isn't the one for him. All that I need to do is figure out just what Troy's weakness is, and exploit it so that Gabriella drops him straight into my arms.

**Let me know what you thought.**

**Thank you for reading.**


	8. Getting the Ball Rolling

**Sorry again for the long wait. I had started this story hoping to post a chapter a week, but that obviously hasn't worked out too well. But to make up for it, I'm going to try to post a few chapters at a time. This one is pretty short. It was originally a part of the chapter after it, but that one was way too long so I broke it into a few chapters. Hopefully that keeps things running smoothly.**

"Ryan, cancel all your plans for this Friday," Sharpay told her brother the next morning. "Why?" her twin asked, still not fully awake. "Because we're having a party," Sharpay said excitedly. "Are you kidding?"

"Of course not. Why would I be?"

"Well, whenever the guys are over you freak out about them making a mess. That's four guys. How do you think you'll act when it's the whole school?"

"I said nothing about inviting the whole school. Just make sure that all of our friends are there, and a few dozen other people to give it some life. You can take care of that right?" Sharpay asked dismissively. "Why is this my responsibility?" Ryan asked tiredly. "Well, how about we consider it your way of thinking your kind sister for getting you a girlfriend?" Sharpay said with a victorious smile. Both her and Ryan knew that he wouldn't be winning this one, so he simply said "fine…"

"Oh and be sure to get a good amount of alcohol. I want people to have a good time," Sharpay added. "How am I supposed to buy alcohol?" Ryan asked her. "I don't know, how do the guys get it for their little get togethers?"

"Jason's older brother usually buys it for them, but…"

"Well there you go then," Sharpay said, again giving her brother a sweet but dismissive smile, "so how was your date last night?" she asked, genuinely interested. For the first time that day, Ryan smiled. "It was really great. Nothing fancy, just dinner and a movie. But I love being able to just be with her, and talk to her, and hold her."

"That's really great," Sharpay said sincerely, but with just a twinge of jealousy. "Oh, and we talked about…that thing that you and I talked about yesterday. Don't worry about being an aunt any time soon. We agreed that we're having a good time and all, but we don't want to ruin things by going too quickly."

"That's probably smart. There's no need to go too far too quickly," Sharpay said, conveniently pushing last night's activities with Zeke out of her mind.

The days leading up to the party were fairly uneventful for Sharpay. She spent much of her time thinking about what she would have to do at the party. It would be a very busy night for her, as the whole idea to have the party had to do with various aspects of her plan. Hopefully the drunkenness and crazy atmosphere that a party promised would be enough to loosen certain tongues and cause some lapses in judgment. Over the course of the party, Sharpay had decided that she was going to find out what Chad was hiding, figure out how to break up Gabriella andd Troy once and for all, and grow closer to Troy. It was certainly a lot to get done, and admittedly Sharpay wasn't sure how she was going to go about any of it, but if there was one thing that Sharpay Evans was good at, it was getting what she wanted.

In the meantime, Sharpay continued work on her plan, being sure to spend a good amount of time with Gabriella. Generally she wouldn't even bring up Troy at all, instead using the time to get closer to Gabriella, Sharpay told herself it was "keeping her friends close and her enemies closer" but Sharpay truly did feel a growing kinship with the other girl. In just a few days they had gone from two girls with a few mutual friends to friends and confidants who could easily talk about their goals, secrets, and insecurities. The more that Sharpay learned about Gabriella, the more she began to grudgingly respect the girl. Just a few weeks ago, Sharpay had no clue that Troy was Gabriella's first real boyfriend, or that she wanted to be a doctor, but was torn between going into medical research, where she could have a larger affect on more people, or into a more personal practice, so that she could actually interact with her patients.

But despite their closeness (Sharpay refused to call it a friendship, even to herself), Sharpay still had every intention of going through with her plan. To that end, she had also been spending more time with Troy. They hadn't actually been alone most of the time, as Sharpay didn't want to arouse any suspicions in Gabriella or Chad, who had taken to shooting her dirty glances whenever she so much as looked at Troy. But despite this, she had been able to steal a few minutes alone with Troy when they were with the others. These few moments were Sharpay's favorite parts of the whole week. She loved being able to show Troy what she was really like, and just being able to look into his eyes was intoxicating to Sharpay, and they were what convinced her that everything that she was going through was going to be worth it in the end.

The night of the party, Sharpay was a mess of nerves, though of course she kept her head high and her face confident. This was a very important night, and she couldn't let anything get in her way. She had already planned out how to handle each of her objectives for the night. Because dealing with Chad would be best done after he was sufficiently drunk, she decided to approach him last. In the meantime, she would spend the beginning of the party focusing on Troy and Gabriella (they were always glued to the hip at these types of things so it wouldn't be hard), looking for any difficulties between them and perhaps even creating some herself. At some point after that, she would find a way to have a spare moment alone with Troy, where they would "accidentally" have an awkward encounter. Nothing too drastic, just enough to keep her in the back of his mind. After that, she would move on to Chad. Hopefully by then the alcohol would weaken his defenses enough to let her extract a useful piece of information.

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Its sort of a transition chapter, setting up the next few chapters, where there will be a lot of story development. Let me know any thoughts you had.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	9. The Party

**Here's the next chapter. I think that this chapter and the next couple is where things really start to get moving.**

"So is everything ready to go?" Sharpay asked Ryan, who was sitting on the couch, his arm wrapped around Kelsi. "Yep, some of drinks are in coolers in the fridge, the guys are bringing the rest, me and Kelsi picked out a bunch of music, and I just called mom and made sure that her and dad's trip will last for the whole weekend," Ryan said. "Fabulous. You know, it really means a lot to me that you were willing to help me put everything together," Ryan looked at her doubtfully, "okay…that you were willing to put everything together all by yourself with no help from me," Sharpay said, sounding more sincere this time. "No problem sis," Ryan said smiling. He wasn't sure why, but this was obviously an important night for his sister, and that made it important to him.

The moment between the two siblings was broken with a ring from the door. As Sharpay answered it, she met her friends, along with a group of five to ten others around them, most of whom Sharpay recognized as cheerleaders or members of the basketball team. As she greeted them, the music turned on, and Sharpay turned to see Ryan and Kelsi playfully arguing about which song to play next. "So far, so good," Sharpay thought to herself.

An hour later, the party was in full swing, with a good mix of jocks, cheerleaders, Ryan and Sharpay's acquaintances from the drama department, and a large variety of others. There were enough people to give the party an exciting atmosphere, but not so many that Sharpay had to spend her time policing everyone.

After greeting a few more of her guests, Sharpay had decided that it was time to enact her plan and went looking for Gabi and Troy. After moving through the crowd for a few minutes she found them talking in a corner with Jason and Zeke. As Zeke saw that Sharpay was approaching, he suddenly seemed to find something on the floor very interesting, as he couldn't seem to stop staring at the spot just in front of his shoes. "Hey guys! Enjoying the party?" Sharpay asked brightly as she joined the group. "Yeah, everything's great," Troy said, smiling widely enough that Sharpay could tell that the alcohol already had affected him somewhat. "Hey, Jason…why don't we go get another drink," Zeke said nervously. He had been avoiding Sharpay since their encounter last week, and though his face didn't show any anger, Sharpay could tell that he was still feeling hurt and embarrassed. "Yeah, okay," Jason said meaningfully, despite the fact that both of their cups were half full.

"Is something wrong between you and Zeke?" Gabriella asked. She too seemed slightly tipsy, but the brunette was perceptive enough to know that for Zeke to willingly leave Sharpay's side, especially when she had approached him, something wasn't right. "Oh, I didn't like something he made for me. Chefs can be so tempermental, but he'll get over it," Sharpay lied casually, "so you two look like you're enjoying yourselves," she added, glancing at Troy's arm, which was wrapped firmly around his girlfriend's waist. She had gotten better at hiding her feelings for Troy in front of Gabriella, and by now it was almost effortless for her to keep her lips curled in a smile, almost. "What can I say…I'm at a great party with an even better girl. Things don't get much better than this," Troy said, looking down at Gabi as he spoke the last words.

Sharpay let about an hour pass before making her move, keeping the conversation light for a while, and letting Troy and Gabriella grow more comfortable. Various people came in and out of the conversation, both good friends and casual acquaintances, but Sharpay was sure to keep the three of them together other than the couple of times that Troy left to get him and Gabriella a drink (Sharpay had decided that it was important to stay fully aware tonight, so kept refusing drinks when they were offered to her).

During one lull in the conversation, Sharpay saw her chance, and casually said, "you know, you guys are so great together. I'm really glad that nothing has gotten in your way."

"What would get in our way?" Gabriella asked. She still looked rather pleasant, but a confused look had entered her face. "Oh, just…you guys are both very popular, lots of girls would kill to be with Troy, and lots of guys would do the same for you," she said coyly to Gabriella. "Oh, right…" Gabriella said. Normally Gabriella wouldn't be satisfied with this explanation, but the alcohol had dulled her senses enough to not press for more of the details behind Sharpay's somewhat odd comment.

"You know, I think I am going to have a little drink," Sharpay said, "I'll be back in a second." But she had no intention of going to the kitchen where the alcohol was being kept. Instead she headed for the living room where a makeshift dance floor had been arranged. She saw quite a lot of people, and took a moment to look at Ryan and Kelsi dancing. Kelsi looked very unsure of herself on the dance floor, but Ryan obviously didn't mind, and they both seemed to be having a great time.

After a minute more, Sharpay spotted her desired target. She was a tall girl named Amanda with light brunette hair that was perfectly styled even after a night that Sharpay was sure had been filled with large amounts of dancing and drinking. She was a cheerleader, and Sharpay knew that Troy and her had dated briefly at the beginning of the school year. Walking in the girl's direction, she grabbed her from the dance floor and went into the significantly less noisy kitchen. It was a mark of the girl's drunkenness that even after standing in the kitchen for a few seconds, her new surroundings hadn't completely registered, and this suited Sharpay perfectly. "Hi Sharpay! Great party!" she said brightly, after realiing who had grabbed her. "Oh, thanks Amanda. I'm so glad you could come," Sharpay said fakely. Realizing that Amanda wouldn't take much convincing, she quickly got to the point, "you know I was just talking to Troy, and he said quite a bit about you."

"Really?" Amanda asked, her tone somehow becoming even more excited. "Yeah. You guys dated for a while right?"

"Oh it wasn't that long, but yeah…we had a lot of fun."

"Well, why don't you go talk to him about it?" Sharpay suggested helpfully. "I don't know…isn't he here with his girlfriend? Gab-bab-riella?"

"Yeah, but they aren't serious or anything. Trust me, I really think he wants you," Sharpay was barely able to hide a wicked grin. "Yeah, okay…thanks Sharpay," Amanda said and turned to find Troy. "Oh, and Amanda…don't say that I told you about this. It'll look better if Troy thinks you're doing this on your own."

"Gotcha," Amanda said with a smile.

Sharpay waited five minutes, then headed back towards the spot where she had been talking to Gabi and Troy, and was greeted with a wonderful sight: Amanda wasn't there anymore, but Troy and Gabriella were engaged in a heated argument, and the people around them were beginning to notice and clear the area. Though Sharpay couldn't hear the full argument, she heard enough to know that her plan was working wonderfully. Finally, Gabriella left the room, nearly shouting "don't follow me!" as she practically ran away. Looking frustrated, Troy sat down for a few seconds, then decided that he didn't want to be there and exited into an empty hallway near Sharpay's room.

Sharpay walked across the room and entered the dark hallway a few minutes later to find Troy sitting down looking defeated. "Oh, Troy?" Sharpay said, pretending that she hadn't noticed him until she was a few feet away. "Hi Sharpay," Troy said, looking up slightly. "What's wrong?" she asked, her concern genuine, though her purposes were not. "Me and Gabi. We kind of had a fight."

"Oh no. What happened?" Sharpay asked with a worried note in her voice. "It was so weird. You know Amanda Harrelson, right?"

"Yeah," Sharpay said as if she had no idea what the other girl could have to do with the situation. "Well when you were gone, she came over to us and practically threw herself at me and saying how much she missed me. It was so weird. I mean, we went on like four dates almost a year ago and she was acting like she was in love, and right in front of Gabi! Obviously I told her to go away, and she did eventually, but then me and Gabi started to fight…"

"Well it can't be easy seeing her boyfriend being hit on," Sharpay said understandably. "But it wasn't even about that. At first she just laughed it off as drunk antics, but then she started to look worried, and started asking me about 'my past,' and the girls that I had dated before her, and what I had done with them. And to be honest I'm too drunk to give good answers to those sorts of questions. I mean, I'm sure everything will work out, but we've never really fought before. And I didn't like it."

"Well you're a great guy Troy. I know that Gabriella will realize that soon enough."

"Thanks Sharpay…you're really great too…" he said, and casually rested his hand on her upper leg. After a few seconds, Sharpay looked down at his hand on her, "um, Troy?" she said, pretending to be confused by this. Troy looked down, and a look of horror entered his face when he saw that he was touching her. "Oh God…I need to go," he said, clumsily standing up and leaving the hallway quickly. "Two down, one to go," Sharpay thought to herself, allowing a victorious smile to creep up on her face.

After searching for about ten minutes, Sharpay found Chad talking to Ryan and Kelsi. "Hey Shar," Ryan said when he saw her join them. "Hi guys, how is everyone?" Sharpay asked brightly. While both Ryan and Kelsi responded positively, Chad gave a small grunt, and took another sip of his beer. Obviously alcohol didn't make Chad any friendlier. But Sharpay pretended to ignore this and jumped into a conversation with her brother and his girlfriend.

After some time had passed, Taylor walked over to the group and warmly put her arm around Chad, but he didn't seem to react well, and made a fairly obvious attempt to escape her reach. "Let's go dance," she said to Chad, almost sounding pleading. "Not now," Chad said slightly irritably, "sorry…I'm just really tired," he said more gently, but neither his words nor his tone were very convincing. "Alright, well…I'm going to go dance for a bit. I'll see you later though?"

"Sure," Chad said. Taylor gave him a brief kiss as she walked away, causing Chad to look both uncomfortable and (if possible) even less happy. For the first time, Sharpay fully appreciated what Ryan had said about Chad being distant with Taylor. Though she had never realized it before, Sharpay could never think of a time when Chad had seemed fully happy when he was close to his grilfriend. Whatever Ryan said, Sharpay still wasn't convinced that Chad wasn't cheating on her, and she spent the next part of the conversation subtly trying to see if Chad was making eye contact with any of the girls in the room or on the dance floor. But it seemed to be no use. For the most part, Chad's eyes were glued to the floor. The only exceptions were when he would speak to Ryan, when he seemed to force himself to make eye contact with the other boy. And even stranger, sometimes it seemed as if Chad would shoot hateful glances at Kelsi for no reason. Sharpay figured this was her imagination, because she couldn't see what Chad could possibly have against Kelsi, and she was mostly frustrated that none of her questions were being answered.

But then there was a brief moment where everything came together perfectly. Kelsi turned to go somewhere else for a few minutes and gave Ryan a quick kiss goodbye. Instantly, Sharpay noticed a very familiar look in Chad's eyes. It was a mixture of intense jealousy and loathing, and it was the same look that Sharpay desperately tried to hide whenever Troy and Gabriella kissed. Was it possible that Chad was in love with Kelsi?

Sharpay expected his eyes to follow the brunette as she walked away, but when she glanced at Chad, it was clear that she wasn't the one he was thinking about. The look of lust on Chad's faced wasn't focused on Kelsi, but on Ryan. And Sharpay knew that both her and Ryan had been right about Chad. He was interested in someone other than Taylor, but it certainly wasn't another girl.

Now that she knew what Chad was hiding, she knew that she had to do something about it. "Excuse me, I have to go check on a few things," Sharpay said, barely able to contain the victorious look on her face as she strutted away.

**The ending might be a bit of a surprise, hopefully you liked it and the rest of the chapter. Let me know what you thought.**

**Thank you for reading.**


	10. Breaking and Entering

**This one's a bit shorter. It was another that was originally part of a much longer chapter that I broke into two parts. Hope you enjoy.**

Sharpay knew that she had to take action immediately, so she hurried to her room, changed into more comfortable shoes, and slipped out of the house and into her car. Soon, she reached Chad's house and was extremely pleased to find that no cars were in the driveway, so she got out of the car and went around the house to his back porch. Over spring break, Chad's family had taken a vacation to visit family, and Ryan had housesat for them. From this, she had learned that the Danforths kept a key under their back doormat.

Making sure that no one was watching, she quietly bent down and was delighted to find the key. But before entering the house, Sharpay paused for a second. She had done some selfish things in her life, and particularly in the past couple weeks. But not only was this morally wrong by any and every standard, it wasn't even legal. Just when she thought she might turn back, the words that Chad had said at the mall echoed in her ears, and she didn't care about anything else but making him suffer. For a few minutes she even forgot that this was really just a small part of a larger plot to win Troy's affections. All that mattered was finding something to prove her suspicions about Chad's hidden sexuality, and then using that to torture him as much as she possibly could.

After confirming that the house was indeed empty, Sharpay found Chad's room and creeped in. She looked in his dresser drawers and under his bed, but found nothing out of the ordinary. And then she saw his laptop sitting on his desk, and somehow Sharpay just knew that this was promising. After turning on the computer, she went to his internet, and looked in his history file. Unfortunately there was nothing unexpected to be found there, mainly just some random sports sites.

So she decided to check in his e-mail inbox, after realizing that he was already logged in. Though most of it was uninteresting junk mail and what appeared to be discussions with various members of the basketball team about organizing workout sessions over the summer, she saw one email that intrigued her. She didn't recognize who it was from, but the subject line said Re: Doubts. Deciding this was as promising as anything, Sharpay opened the email, and quickly saw that it was exactly what she needed. Just from scanning the email, she could tell that it was actually an onoing conversation with the first email being from a few months ago, even before he had started dating Taylor. Though the emails didn't say how they had met, the recipient seemed to be a college student that had come out of the closet a few years ago. Most of the early emails involved Chad asking how the other boy knew for sure that he was gay, and how he had shared the information with his friends and family. From there, things only got better. About a month into their correspondence, they each included a picture of themselves in the email, and in the next e-mail Chad complimented the other boy's attractiveness, not showing very much restraint. Chad's embarrassment at the idea of other people seeing something so incriminating made Sharpay happier than she had been in months.

From there, the emails turned more serious. It seemed that Chad had decided that he was gay but was still not ready to come out, so the other boy proposed that he find a girlfriend to hide things for a while. Sharpay noticed that this email was written about the time of the callbacks for the Winter Musical, so it had to have been just before Chad asked out Taylor. Chad's most recent email was perhaps the best. It described, in fairly explicit detail, a new crush that Chad had developed, and how this was making it even more difficult to pretend to be interested in Taylor. The email didn't mention the crush by name, but from the description Sharpay was positive that he was referring to Ryan.

Sharpay decided that these emails were more than what she needed to bring Chad down a few notches, so she took screenshots of some of the more incriminating emails, being sure to keep his computer's wallpaper (the East High basketball logo) in the background on some of them. But disaster almost struck just as Sharpay was emailing herself the screenshots. She heard the sound of the front door opening, and the voices of who she thought were Chad's father and stepmother. Quickly closing the laptop, Sharpay knew that she couldn't go out the back, so she would have to climb out the window. Thanking every deity that she could think of for the fact that Chad's room was both on the first floor and contained several decent sized windows, Sharpay got rid of any signs that she had been in the room and opened the window as quietly as possible. After climbing out of the window and shutting it behind her, Sharpay went as quickly and quietly as she could to her car, which she had parked about a block away from the house, and was very pleased with her foresight, since there would have been no way to get to her car without being noticed if she had left the car in front of the Danforth house. She knew that she wasn't totally safe, even as she started driving back to her house. She hadn't replaced the key, and the back door was still unlocked. But those were small details. She could easily replace the key tomorrow morning as she still had it with her, and hopefully his parents would just assume that they had hoped to lock the door. But even if they did notice something was amiss, Sharpay knew that it would be worth it.

Sharpay returned to her house at about one in the morning, finding the party to be slowly winding down. There were still quite a few people there, but the dancing had stopped, and most people either looked like they would be leaving soon or had passed out from too much excess and it appeared that they would be there for the night. Normally, the idea of a dozen or so people sleeping in her house without invitation would have infuriated Sharpay, but at the moment she didn't care about any of that. After all, Chad Danforth's secrecy and dignity now lay in her inbox.

**Hope you liked it, let me know your thoughts.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	11. Victorious?

The next morning Sharpay woke up very early, driven by the promise of revenge. She was pleased to find that all of the partygoers from the previous night had left, and she had the house to herself, as Ryan was still asleep. Sharpay knew that she wanted to look both confident and stylish when she confronted Chad later that day, so she took an extra long shower to get the smell of last night's party off of her, and then printed out the emails that she had gotten from Chad's computer the previous night. Knowing it was still probably too early to go to his house, Sharpay decided to pick up the remnants from the party. Since Ryan had done just about all of the organizing at her demand, it seemed like the least that she could do. Despite the raucousness of many of the partygoers, the house was in better condition than Sharpay expected, and it was only a matter of picking up some trash that had been strewn around the house, straightening some furniture that had gone askew, and spraying a liberal about of air freshener to get rid of the lingering smell of stale alcohol.

By the time that Sharpay was finished cleaning the house, it was 9:30 and she decided that she had given him more than enough time, so she drove to Chad's house, feeling so anxious and excited that she was barely able to concentrate on the road. After quietly sneaking around back and replacing the key, she went back to her car and called Chad from there. "Hello?" an extremely disgruntled and tired voice asked after quite a few rings, and Sharpay could tell that Chad had just woken up and was probably quite hungover. "It's Sharpay. I need to talk to you," she demanded immediately. "What do you want Sharpay?" even in his tiredness, Chad spared little effort in hiding his disdain for her. "I'm outside your house. Get in my car and I'll tell you all about it," Sharpay demanded. She had decided that this time she would be running the whole conversation, and she could tell that Chad knew that whatever she wanted, it wouldn't end well for him. "Okay, give me five minutes," he said. To Sharpay's delight, his voice was mired with resignation.

As promised, Chad entered her car about five minutes later, wearing the same clothes that he had been in at the party. There were deep bags around his eyes, and his hair looked thoroughly uncared for. "So what's so important that you had to drive to my house and wake me up for?" Chad asked. His voice had regained some of its defiance and loathing towards Sharpay, but there was still an edge of nervousness. "Let's go for a little drive," Sharpay said as an answer.

After driving around the neighborhood for a few minutes, she pulled the car over and looked at Chad. "I just wanted to tell you that you've been right about everything. I am interested in Troy. No, I'm more than interested in him. I love him. And for the past week or so, I've been working on breaking up him and Gabriella. You were right about it all," Sharpay said, though her voice was full of confidence. "Why are you telling me this?" Chad asked, as if not fully convinced that this wasn't all an odd dream. "Because I know that you won't tell anyone what I just told you," Sharpay said, reeling in her prey. "And what makes you think that?" Chad asked, his voice a mixture of smugness and irritation. "Well…" Sharpay said, pausing to savor the moment, "take a look at this," she handed him the printouts of his emails. "I really do think that Taylor deserves to see what's on here. And you know, Ryan would probably like to know that you're so crazy about him. He'll be flattered I'm sure. For that matter, I think that your little basketball friends should such an important detail of your life. You know, it's not very nice to keep secrets," Sharpay mockingly scolded Chad with a wicked grin. She was being overly cruel and she knew it, but it felt good to put Chad in a position where he felt powerless, and she wasn't about to give that up just to spare his feelings. "How did you get these?" Chad asked incredulously. "Oh, that doesn't matter," Sharpay said dismissively. She wasn't eager to go into detail about her little foray into breaking and entering. "What does matter," she told him, "is that no one else sees these. And you won't have to worry about that at all, as long as you can promise me that you won't say anything about my plans with Troy."

Chad thought for a few moments, though there wasn't really anything to think about. He wanted to protect his friends from the threat that he saw in the form of the blonde sitting next to him, but they both knew that she could do far more harm to him than he could to her. "Yeah, I won't tell anyone," he told her finally. "So how did you find out?" he asked, suddenly eager to continue the conversation. He wasn't thinking about helping his friends. He wasn't even thinking about his anger at Sharpay. The only thought running through his mind was that if he got out of the car, he would be entering a world where someone had said the truth out loud for the first time. "You didn't exactly hide it well at the party," Sharpay told him bluntly, though her voice had lost the edge of cruelty, "I mean, I talked to a few people that said that something about you seemed off lately, and that was what first made me suspicious, but mainly it was that you blatantly checked out my brother.

"Yeah…I guess I wasn't really thinking straight last night," said Chad, "no pun intended," he added after realizing the double meaning of his words, and for the first time that conversation, both him and Sharpay laughed.

"Why do you care so much?" Sharpay asked after a short silence. She knew that she probably shouldn't ask this, since the fact that Chad did care so much about the secret was all that kept her plan intact, but the question had been in the back of her mind ever since she realized what Chad was hiding. "Everything would change," Chad said as if he had answered the question to himself many times. "I mean, Taylor would hate me for using her like I am, and even if I'm not interested in dating her, she's a really nice girl and I don't want her to hate me. And I can't even imagine how the guys would react. I mean, they've never said anything blatantly homophobic or anything, and I'm sure they'd act supportive, but it still wouldn't be the same. Then my parents…again, they'd probably be supportive, but how can I tell my dad that he'll never be a grandfather? Then Ryan…oh God, Ryan cannot know," Chad said, sounding more serious than Sharpay had ever heard him. "Its not like Ryan is closedminded. I mean, let's be honest, he's had more than a couple people think that he's gay," Sharpay told Chad, surprised at the almost friendly tone that the conversation had taken. "Yeah, and that's just the problem," Chad said, "You know Ryan better than anyone. You know that he'd be too understanding, and probably blame himself for the fact that I'm…well, crazy about him. And then he'd probably do something crazy that would mess up things with him and Kelsi. I know that we'll never be together. Seeing him happy with someone else is the next best thing."

"You really think so?" Sharpay asked, as what Chad had just said completely contradicted everything that she had done to be with Troy. "Yeah," he said honestly, "if you ask me, that's what real love is: giving up what you want for someone else's happiness." Sharpay wasn't sure if Chad was referring to her specifically, but it certainly felt like it, and it quickly changed the tone of the conversation for her. "Well, I'm not going to be taking advice on love from someone who can't tell his girlfriend that he's in love with another man," Sharpay said, suddenly turning vicious again. Chad seemed too shocked to say anything

"How do you always do it?" she asked him after a few tense moments, and even Sharpay was surprised at how meek she sounded. "Do what?"

"Make me hate myself so much. Even now, when I've won and there's nothing you can do about it," she said, not sure if the bitterness in her voice was aimed at Chad or herself. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just saying the things that you know are true, but are too afraid to admit to yourself," he said calmly. "I should probably go," he told her, almost looking bad for hurting her. "Yeah, you should," Sharpay said, putting the key in the ignition. Her voice was icy, but only in an attempt to hide her vulnerability, and they both knew it. "I can just walk," Chad told her, "it's just a few blocks."

"Chad," Sharpay called before he fully left the car. "Yeah?"

"I'm not giving up on Troy."

"Well, maybe things will work out for you two," Chad said wearily but not unkindly, and for just a second Sharpay thought that he might not have been mocking her.

**Hope you liked the chapter. I think it shows a very different side of both Chad and Sharpay, but I'm not sure how much I like all of the dialogue.**

**Let me know what you thought, and thank you for reading.**


	12. Diary Pt 4

**This is a pretty short chapter, but I think its an important one. It sets up the closing action for the rest of the story and gives a good idea about Sharpay's thoughts at the moment. Also, a note about these diary chapters. They aren't meant to be what is actually happening in the story, but how Sharpay perceives those things. That's true for all of the diary sections, but I think its especially important to keep that in mind for this chapter. Hope you enjoy.**

Dear Diary,

I didn't do much after the little conversation with Chad. It gave me enough to think about for the rest of the day. I've had questions running through my mind ever since we stopped talking, and I spent most of the day sitting in my car, or lying in my bed, thinking about whether or not what I've been doing was right. Everything that I thought would be so simple suddenly seems to be so much more complicated. I mean, I thought that Chad would be hiding something that was embarrassing, but not life-changing or even that important. But then I find out that he's in love with my brother. And I hoped that as I got closer to Gabriella, I would find more and more reasons why she doesn't deserve Troy. But I've realized from my conversation with Chad that if it wasn't so obvious that Troy and I were destined to be together, I would be genuinely happy for both of them.

But I have to keep myself from reading too far into that. It doesn't mean that I'm having second thoughts about what I'm doing. After all, me and Troy ARE meant to be together. I just know it. But for the first time, I've started to think about what will happen after my plan works. We'll be happy, of course, but what about Gabriella? You don't know how much I hate to admit it, but I don't want to see her get hurt, and I don't want to lose her friendship. I just wish I could make her see that its supposed to be ME with Troy. But that won't happen, so I'm going to have to prove it in another way, and I've realized that it probably won't be a way that will end well for her.

But I will show her. Who knows, it might even do her some good in the end. I mean, Troy and Gabriella's relationship is weak. Anyone who's been paying attention can tell that much (unfortunately I think I'm the only one who IS paying attention). The mistrust and resentment is there, now I just need to make sure that Gabriella's suspicions are vindicated. The only way that this can be done, to make sure that Troy and Gabriella are broken up with no hope of reconciliation, will end up in a lot more people getting hurt.

I won't skirt the issue anymore. I need Gabriella to catch him with another girl, or at least make her think that he's with another girl. Obviously this will hurt Gabriella. No one wants to see their boyfriend with someone else. But strangely enough, it might hurt me more than anyone else. For some time, I had thought that I could be that girl, but that is impractical. It would raise too much suspicion, and I can't have their breakup traced to me, or Troy will never date (or even speak to) me and everything I've done will end up being a complete waste. So that leaves me with a few possibilities. Sure I could just tell some random cheerleader that Troy wants them. After all, it worked pretty well last time. But that's not enough. I need the emotional damage to be bigger and more devastating than a slutty cheerleader can cause. It needs to be someone that both Troy and Gabriella are close to, someone they think that they can trust, and someone who appears innocent enough that the only possible explanation that Gabriella will come to is that Troy made advances on her. I realized who it needs to be earlier today. Trust me, I don't like the conclusion I came to. But I know that there's only one girl for the job: Kelsi. There are also a few other positive aspects about choosing Kelsi for this role. I know from experience that she can't exactly hold her liquor, so under the right circumstances she should be easy enough to manipulate. Of course, this won't exactly help her relationship with Ryan. Honestly, I just don't want to think about what this will do to them. Hopefully Ryan doesn't find out about it, and if he does, then well…they have a good relationship. Perhaps it can survive this. Maybe I seem heartless and cruel right now, but if you ask me, this is just a sign of how strong my love is for Troy. I know what Chad said about love being 'what you're willing to give up for someone else.' I thought about that a lot, and I decided that he's wrong. Its not about what you can give up for someone else. Chad thinks that love is about what you can give up, but its so much more than that. Love is how far youre willing to go for the one you love, and if I'm willing to do so much just to be with Troy, then doesn't that say a lot about what I'll be willing to do for him when we're actually together?

**The action will definitely heat up in the next few chapters. Let me know what you thought.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	13. Setting Up the Pieces

**-xGuiltyxPleasure- thank you very much for the review. I don't think its bad to agree with Sharpay about some things. She's definitely the main character and because of that I'm trying to make her sympathetic. I don't think her thoughts are necessarily right or wrong, though as the next couple chapters show, some of her actions are definitely immoral. **

A few days later, Sharpay was mildly surprised when she heard her doorbell ring and opened the door to find Gabriella on the other side. They had certainly become better friends in the past weeks, but usually it was Sharpay who had sought Gabriella out. And after the party, Gabriella didn't seem particularly interested in talking to anyone. "Hi," she said shyly, "I'm sorry for intruding like this, but I really needed to talk to someone."

"What's wrong?" Sharpay asked, deciding to feign ignorance. "I don't know if you heard about what happened at your party…with me and Troy…"

"I got the gist of it, yeah," Sharpay said, deciding to take mercy and not force Gabi to recount everything. "I guess I've been pretty bothered by that ever since it happened," Gabriella told her, "and I just really need talk about it."

Sharpay invited the brunette inside. There was a concerned look on her face, but inwardly she was delighted. She knew that this would be a very important conversation, and that if she played it correctly, it would help ensure the destruction of Troy and Gabriella's relationship.

"I just feel so dumb," Gabriella said, when they went into Sharpay's room. "Why's that?"

"I mean, how could I have not known that girls would always be throwing themselves at him? I mean I've seen the looks that some girls give me when we're together" (Sharpay casually looked away at this statement) "but the other night was the first time that I realized just how difficult it is to be in a relationship with Troy Bolton. And to be honest, I don't know if I can trust him anymore."

"Why not? I mean, Troy got rid of that girl at the party pretty quickly didn't he?" Sharpay asked, deciding that pretending to be supportive would be the best course of action. "Yeah, I guess he did, but she kept talking about all the good times they had, and all the 'things' they had done together. I mean, she was definitely not in her right mind at the time, so she could have been making it all up. That's what Troy said at least…but I don't know if I can trust him anymore," Gabriella said, her eyes appearing to moisten slightly. "Well, has he ever given you any reason to not trust him?" Sharpay asked rationally. "Not…exactly. I mean, as far as I know he's never even come close to lying to me. But I guess there are times when I do get the feeling that he might have glossed over a few things in his past. You said it yourself, the Wildcat parties can be pretty crazy. But the thing is, I really wouldn't mind very much if he had done things with other girls. It's not like we were dating back then. We didn't even live in the same state. But it does bother me that sometimes I feel like I'm being lied to, or like he's hiding something. And I'm worried that he's doing those things to take advantage of me."

"Do you think he is?"

"I don't know what to think anymore, to tell you the truth. Of course I want to believe the things that Troy says to me, but if he's lying about his past how can I know that he isn't lying about other things too? What if this whole time he's just been trying to take advantage of me?"

"You know what I think?" Sharpay asked. She decided that Gabriella had had enough time to get her feelings out, and now it was time to take advantage of the situation, "I think that Troy is crazy about you, and maybe he has made some mistakes in the past, and he may not even be completely honest about them. But I don't think that's really why you're mad," Sharpay said. "So what's wrong?" Gabi asked meekly. "I think that you feel guilty about not really committing yourself to the relationship with him, and you're taking out the frustration with yourself out on Troy."

"You don't think that I'm not putting myself in the relationship?" Gabriella asked, sounding confused and even slightly offended. "Well, think about it. Troy has been the one that always pushes you guys forward emotionally. And maybe you don't exactly stop anything, but you do seem to drag on a bit. Trust me, I saw what happened when Troy said that he loved you. Sure, you looked really happy, but there was fear in your eyes. You're afraid of getting too attached to Troy and then getting hurt, so you're using Troy's past as an excuse to keep your guard up with him. But let me tell you, I've seen the way that Troy looks at you, and it's the look of a guy who is so deeply in love that he would do anything to protect you. It's not Troy that you should worry about, it's you," Sharpay said. She didn't believe any of the words she was saying, but in the past few weeks, lying through her teeth had become a regular part of her life, and by now she could pretend (and almost even to herself) that the words she said didn't bother her or hurt her in the least.

Gabriella thought about her friend's words for a while before speaking. "Maybe you're right. I mean, Troy is so great, and he's never done anything that suggests that he's anything but fully committed. But how can I show him that I'm the same?" Sharpay appeared to think for a few seconds, but she already knew exactly what she intended to say. "Well, Troy's been the one that always takes the next step in your relationship. He asked you out, he kissed you first, he said 'I love you' first. Maybe you should take the next step on your own," and gave a mildly suggestive look to make her meaning more clear. "You mean, sleeping together?" Gabriella asked, sounding nervous but with an edge of excitement. "Yeah," Sharpay said, glad that Gabriella caught her meaning, "You love him right? And it's pretty obvious that you two want each other. So why not?" Gabriella seemed to be trying to think of an argument, but she could think of none. "You're right Sharpay," she said with a smile. "I need to get over my fears that Troy isn't committed. And how better to do that then to show just how committed to him I am?" Gabriella said with a newfound confidence. Sharpay wasn't sure if that confidence was genuine, but frankly she didn't care very much. All she cared about was Gabriella going along with her plan. "So…when are you going to do it?" Sharpay asked. "Oh, God…I don't really know. I couldn't do it in my house, or his house for that matter. I'd be terrified that my mom or one of his parents would walk in," Gabriella said, almost blushing just at the thought of it. "Hey I have an idea," Sharpay said, "Jason's having a party next weekend, right?"

"Yeah, I heard about that," Gabriella said, clearly understanding what her friend was implying. "I have a great idea for you," Sharpay said, the gears in her mind turning quickly, "you should pretend to still be mad at him up until it happens. That way he'll have spent all week with pent up energy, and when you jump him it will be even better," Sharpay said. Convincing Gabriella of this idea was crucial, because her plan wouldn't work if Troy and Gabriella spent any time at the party together. Fortunately, Gabi didn't see through her pretense, and eagerly agreed that Sharpay's idea was excellent. And together they plotted for Gabriella to arrive late to the party, at which time Sharpay would tell Troy that Gabriella had a surprise for him, and send him to one of the guest rooms at the house, where Troy and Gabriella would have an extremely romantic and enjoyable night that would heal all the wounds that their relationship had suffered in the past few days. After making sure that all the details were set, Gabriella left the house extremely grateful to Sharpay for saving her relationship.

Sharpay was almost ready for the completion of her plan. But there was still one more thing to be done. It would be extremely difficult to make it appear as if Troy and Kelsi were together if Ryan was hovering over his girlfriend, so Sharpay would need to take care of her brother. She decided to do this on the day of the party. "Hey, Ry," she said cheerfully, strolling into his room. "You never got knocking down did you sis?" he asked, though he didn't seem too upset. By now, he had learned that his sister would generally do what she wanted and there wasn't much that he could do to stop that. "So are you and Kelsi going to Jason's party tonight?" she asked conversationally, ignoring her brother's quip. "No, I don't think so," Ryan told his sister. "I think one party a week is more than enough for both of us, so we're just going to go to the movies and maybe some dinner."

"Oh, okay," Sharpay said to her brother. She pretended to sound slightly disappointed, but was actually overjoyed. With Ryan not going to the party, all she had to do now was find a way to trick Kelsi into going and everything would be in place. She saw her opportunity to do just this in the form of Ryan's cell phone, lying on his dresser just a few feet from where Sharpay stood. Pretending to engage Ryan in conversation, she waited until he was distracted and quietly slipped the phone into her pocket.

Soon after, Sharpay went back to her room feeling victorious. This whole thing was almost too easy. She opened the phone and texted Kelsi: "hey, do u want to go to the party after all?" About a minute later she got the reply she had been hoping for: "Um sure. Ill meet you there." Confident that everything was going to work out for the best, Sharpay decided to get ready for the party.

**I guess this chapter is sort of the beginning of the end (though there's still quite a bit left). Next chapter everything comes together.**

**Let me know what you thought, and thanks for reading.**


	14. All Fall Down

Sharpay knew that tonight was the night. It wouldn't be easy, but if everything went according to her plan, Gabriella and Troy would be no more by the morning. But there was still a lot that had to be done if everything was going to work as she needed it to. Immediately after getting to the already fairly crowded party, Sharpay started to make a mental checklist of what to do. First, she had to find Kelsi and convince her to drink enough that she wouldn't realize what was going to happen to her. Then, she would have to do the same with Troy, and trick him into getting in bed with Kelsi, convincing him that he was actually with his girlfriend. Finally, she had to arrange for Gabriella to catch them. It would be a busy night, but Sharpay knew that if she could do all of those things, she would be with Troy, and she could finally be happy.

Since she needed Kelsi to already be incapacitated when Troy found her, and because she seemed like the easiest to manipulate, Sharpay made the small composer her first target. Finding her was easy enough, since (as Sharpay suspected would be the case) Kelsi was already looking for her. "Sharpay," she said, with a slightly concerned look on her face. "Oh, hi Kelsi," Sharpay responded. "Have you seen Ryan? We were supposed to meet here."

"Oh right he had a few things to do around the house. But he wanted me to tell you that he'll be here a bit later," Sharpay lied. "Oh," Kelsi said dejectedly, "great."

"Something wrong?" Sharpay asked, feigning concern. "No, not really," Kelsi said. Unfortunately, she wasn't nearly as good of an actress as Sharpay and the blonde immediately knew that something was amiss, and it made her hopeful. "Come on Kelsi, you can tell me?"

After a few seconds Kelsi responded. "I don't know…I know this sounds stupid, but I just didn't really want to be here in the first place, and I didn't think that Ryan did either. For the whole week we talked about just having a nice quiet night away from…all this," she said, motioning her arms to the large number of East High students that were brashly drinking and dancing, "but a couple of hours ago he just randomly texted me and said that he wanted to come here instead. I wouldn't have minded too much if he was actually here. But now I don't even get to spend time with him. It's all just so out of character for him," Kelsi said, obviously irritated.

"I think I might know what's going on," Sharpay said, sneaking a concerned tone into her voice. Her plan was becoming clearer, but she had to make sure that Kelsi trusted her for it to work. "What is it?" Kelsi asked curiously. "You can't tell Ryan I told you about this," Sharpay started conspiratorially, "but the other day, me and Ryan were talking about you guys. Don't worry, everything's fine!" she said, noticing Kelsi's face growing concerned, "it's just that I think Ryan might be getting a little…bored. He's still completely crazy about you. Trust me, it gets pathetic sometimes. But he did mention that you should 'cut loose' a bit more, and learn to relax."

"So, wait…you're saying that Ryan's not happy with our relationship because I don't party more?" Kelsi asked, both confused and slightly offended, since he had never even come close to saying anything like that to her. "I wouldn't put it like that. Let's just say that if you did…it might make him even happier. I mean, let's be honest, you aren't the most exciting person in the world" Sharpay said cheerily. And inwardly she became even happier when she saw the hurt look on Kelsi's face. "Did Ryan say that?" she asked. "Well, maybe not in those words exactly," Sharpay said gently, "but I guess it was sort of implied."

"Well that's just fine. If Ryan wants me to get crazy, then I'll show him just how crazy I can get," her hurt and slightly bitter tone letting Sharpay know that this would be even easier than she thought. "You know, I see a great way to start right over there," Sharpay said, motioning nonchalantly to an unopened bottle of vodka that no one had seemed to have claimed. "Shall we?" Kelsi asked, sounding more determined than Sharpay had ever heard her.

A few minutes later, Sharpay and Kelsi had grabbed the vodka and a couple of cups, and headed into an unoccupied room, and Sharpay started pouring drinks for her and Kelsi, making sure to give herself much smaller amounts than she poured for Kelsi. Everything seemed to be working quite well, and after just a few shots, Kelsi was visibly drunk. Sharpay pretended to not want to give her any more, but Kelsi insisted. Even in her drunken state, it was obvious that "Ryan's" words had done quite a lot to offend her, and to Kelsi's intoxicated logic, it seemed perfectly logical that drinking more was the best thing she could do to get back at Ryan.

Unfortunately for her, Kelsi's anger significantly exceeded her alcohol tolerance, and it wasn't long before she could barely even sit up straight. "I think I had too much," she mumbled wearily. "Oh Kelsi, why don't you lie down for a bit," Sharpay said, sounding concerned. Kelsi seemed to like this idea, and gave a positive sounding mumble and tried to get herself onto the bed that she had previously been leaning against, but she could barely even do that, causing Sharpay to feel genuine concern for her friend. She had known that Kelsi was hardly a heavy drinker, but she would have never thought that her reaction would be this bad. But then again, Sharpay reminded herself, it had been the plan all along to make Kelsi react this way, so she couldn't pretend (even to herself) to be so shocked at the results.

Sharpay helped Kelsi onto the bed, and by then Kelsi was soundly asleep. Sharpay removed the other girl's glasses and hat and placed them to the side of the bed, then removed Kelsi's hair tie and let her hair fall to near her shoulders, doing her best to make her look more like Gabriella. The two girls didn't look very similar at all, but by the time that she was finished, it seemed like she had done a good enough job to at least convince someone who was heavily intoxicated. When she finished, she went in search of Troy in order to help him meet that standard.

After walking the length of the party a few times without a sign of Troy, Sharpay began to worry. Everything could fall apart if Troy wasn't there, and she cursed herself for not doing something as simple as making sure that Troy would be at the party. About 10 minutes later, she saw Jason, Zeke, and Chad among a group of partygoers. Sharpay was on less than stellar terms with 67% of them, but if anyone knew Troy's whereabouts it would be them, so Sharpay went up cautiously to the Wildcats. "Have you guys seen Troy?" she asked, trying to look as though she didn't realize that one of them hadn't been able to look her in the eye for more than a week and that she was currently blackmailing another. Seeing that the other two wouldn't be answering, Jason spoke up nervously. "Last time we saw him he was over there," he said, pointing to a large crowd. After looking for a few seconds, Sharpay noticed a dark shape hunched in the corner and instantly recognized Troy. "He doesn't look too good," Sharpay said. "Yeah. We haven't been able to get him to talk about it, but something happened with Gabriella, and well…no one's ever said that Troy has issues with drowning his sorrows," Jason said, looking concerned for his friend. "Oh, well thanks," she said, her tone echoing Jason's concern, but inwardly she was rejoicing. It seemed as if Troy was already more than drunk enough without her help, so all that she needed to do was steer him into Kelsi's room.

"Hey stranger," she said gently (though loud enough to be heard over the party). Troy looked blankly at her for a few seconds, as if not sure where the voice was coming from, and then spoke slowly "Sharpay?"

After almost literally dragging Troy to a relatively quiet hallway she tried to get his attention, but he just kept mumbling about how much Gabriella hated him, and how badly he had messed up. After what felt like hours, Sharpay was finally able to make Troy calm down enough to listen to her. "Troy," she said loudly and slowly, "Gabi isn't mad at you. I was just talking to her, and she told me that she's over it, and that now she wants to show that she isn't mad at you," Sharpay said, hoping the intention of her statement was clear.

"What do you mean," Troy asked, his whole body wobbling slightly, as if he was having difficulty keeping it upright. "She's in that room," Sharpay pointed out the room where Kelsi lie sleeping, "waiting for you," she said suggestively. "Waiting for what?" Troy slurred, making Sharpay hope that the alcohol had affected his observation skills as much as it had his comprehension. "She wants you Troy," she said bluntly, "She feels awful for hurting you so badly, and she's going to make it up to you now. So just go in there and do what you guys have both wanted for the longest time," Sharpay said, and the look on Troy's face let her know that he had finally caught on. "Okay, I'll do it," he said with great resolve, "where is she again?"

After walking Troy to the room, she opened the door slightly and was pleased to see that Kelsi didn't seem to have moved an inch. Even without glasses and a hat, and with her hair pulled down and her back turned to the doorway, no one in their right mind would confuse Kelsi for Gabriella, but Troy was far from in his right mind, and he seemed to buy Sharpay's story without questioning why "Gabriella" was suddenly much shorter and paler. "Enjoy," Sharpay whispered in Troy's ear, and watched as Troy wordlessly approached Kelsi and starting kissing and touching her clumsily. Walking out the door, Sharpay pulled out her phone and texted "now" to Gabriella.

"Are you ready?" Sharpay asked, glad that she would only have to play this role for only a little longer. "Yes" a nervous, but also determined and excited looking Gabriella said, "where's Troy again?" she asked. "I saw him go to the bathroom about ten minutes ago, but I haven't seen him since then. But don't worry, I'll track him down. You just worry about getting ready. The last time I checked, the room at the top of the stairs was free, so how about I send him in there when I find him. "Alright. I hope he comes quickly. I can't stand to wait any longer."  
"Oh don't worry. I'm sure you'll see him before you know it," Sharpay said innocently, though she had to force herself to hide a wicked smile, and watched as Gabriella went up the stairs, grateful that her work would pay off any second now, and she would be able to focus on making her and Troy happy, not on making everyone else miserable. Just a few seconds later, Sharpay heard a scream that even cut through the raucous noises of the party. Then she saw a blur of black hair coming down the stairs, and before she knew it, Gabriella was facing her with clearly misty eyes. "Tell your brother that his girlfriend is a slut," she said solemnly and with more bitterness than Sharpay had ever expected from the normally sickeningly sweet girl. The noise of the party had subsided with Gabi's scream, and these words seemed to echo around the room. As Gabriella walked away, it was clear that she was surrendering to her tears. Sharpay allowed herself a moment of pity for Gabriella before reminding herself that it was all for the best.

It wasn't long before Troy could be heard leaving the room and trying to run down the stairs after his girlfriend, but his drunken state made this impossible, and he tripped after just a few steps. Fortunately for everyone involved, he was quickly caught by the now very intrigued partiers.

**I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. Its probably the least realistic chapter of the story, but I think it moves the plot forward pretty effectively.**

**Let me know what you thought, and thanks for reading.**


	15. Diary Pt 5 The Aftermath

**This chapter starts off in diary format but goes to regular narration halfway through. It was originally two chapters but they were both really short and flowed pretty well together so I combined them. Hopefully it works well.**

Dear Diary,

Well, its over. Gabriella called me this evening and said that she had broken up with Troy. Apparently he didn't remember anything about last night. I have to say that I'm pretty happy about that. Its for the best that Troy thinks that he actually did try to sleep with Kelsi. First of all, it didn't give him much of a defense for what he had done. According to Gabriella he fought fiercely for them to stay together, and was still trying to call her nonstop, but he hasn't been able to give any explanation for what he did, so it doesn't look like there's any hope of them getting back together. It's also good that he doesn't remember because if he did then he probably would also remember the fact that I was the one who led him into the room. Even though I did all of this for us, for him, I still don't think he'd be too understanding of it all. At least not yet. Once we've been together for some time and he realizes how much I love him and how much he can love me, I know that he will be grateful that I went through all of that for our happiness.

Speaking of which, I now need to actually make sure that Troy and I end up together. To be honest, I've been so preoccupied with making sure that Troy and Gabriella break up that I didn't really consider what would happen after they did break up. It sounds silly but I think I just assumed he would just magically fall in my arms. Even though we are destined to be together, I know that it isn't quite that simple. But I also know how to make sure that he realizes how perfect we are for each other. I need to get to him quick, when he's still vulnerable from the breakup. Then, I need to show him my support. I need to make sure he knows that I'll always be there to comfort him, both emotionally and physically. If I can prove my love during a time when he's so caught up on another girl, it will be the ultimate proof to the world that we are meant to be.

I still don't know what's going to happen to Ryan and Kelsi. I really don't want them to break up. They're nearly as perfect for each other as Troy and I are. I just wish there was some way that I could explain to Ryan that this whole thing was my doing without Gabriella finding out about it. But unfortunately that simply cannot happen. Ryan likes to think that he has lofty morals and that my little schemes end up doing more harm than good, but he's too shortsighted to understand that I just want what's best. No, he would end up telling Gabriella everything. That would ruin everything. Not only would my plan come crashing down, Gabriella would hate me and even worse, convince Troy to hate me too. I haven't talked to Ryan about it yet, so I'm assuming that he hasn't heard anything. But according to what Gabriella said when she called me, she's going to change that. After calling to let me know what happened between her and Troy, she said that she planned on calling Ryan and telling him everything. I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't listen, and insisted that he needed to know the truth.

The two of them are really very similar. They both think that they have all the answers, but when it comes down to it, they're both too afraid to see the big picture, and realize what's really important.

Hang on a second. Someone's knocking on my door.

* * *

Sharpay opened the door to her room to see a very upset looking Ryan. "What's wrong?" she asked immediately, waving him into the room. "You were at the party last night weren't you?" he asked her solemnly. "Yeah," Sharpay knew where Ryan was going, but decided to let him drive the conversation.

"Did you see Kelsi there?" Ryan asked. "Um, yeah, I'm pretty sure she was there. I didn't really talk to her though. She looked sort of preoccupied," Sharpay said innocuously. "Preoccupied with Troy?" Ryan asked bitterly. "What are you talking about?" Sharpay asked, feigning ignorance. "Gabriella just called and told me that she walked in on them…together."

"You mean…?"

"She said that Troy was in the process of taking off her shirt when she walked in."

"Are you sure that she saw everything right?" Sharpay asked, trying to calm her brother. "Yeah, she said it was definitely Kelsi," Ryan said, his eyes completely devoid of their usual life. "Maybe it was a misunderstanding," Sharpay suggested, trying to sound both level-headed and optimistic. She genuinely didn't want anything bad to happen between Ryan and Kelsi, and was thinking of anything she could to get the horrible look off of Ryan's face. "What else could they have possibly been doing that required Troy kissing her and taking off her clothes?" Ryan asked, and Sharpay had only seen him this upset a small number of times. "Look Ryan, I admit it looks bad. But you need to get her side of the story before jumping to conclusions," Sharpay told her brother, "I'm not saying there is a good explanation, but you won't know until you ask Kelsi about it."

Ryan seemed to consider her words for a few seconds before speaking. "I guess you're right," he said finally, "but you know what the worst part of it is? I spent all of last night worried out of my mind for her. I went to the movie theater and couldn't find her anywhere, so I tried to call her but I realized that I didn't have my phone on me, so I went to her house and checked if she was there, but her parents just said that she had gone to meet me. So I came back here and called her phone, no answer, then called just about everyone I could think of who would know where she was, but no one could tell me anything. I spent the whole night afraid that she had gotten in some horrible accident, when really she just blew me off so that she could hook up with Troy Bolton. "

The next day, Sharpay walked by Ryan's room when she thought that he wasn't there, hoping to return the phone that she had stolen. She couldn't have picked a worse time. Not only was Ryan in his room, Kelsi was as well. Neither of them sounded particularly happy, and as Sharpay listened, their words became louder and angrier. She couldn't bear to listen too closely, but it was obvious that Ryan's attempt to find out what had really happened had turned into him yelling at Kelsi for 'cheating' on him. Unfortunately, Kelsi didn't seem to be helping things much. Sharpay could tell that she didn't remember much from the night, and wasn't even conscious when Troy had made a move on her. But unfortunately, the one thing that she did remember from that disastrous night was why she had been drinking so heavily. From her tone it was clear that she was still very bothered by the fact that 'Ryan' had been bored by their relationship. She kept responding to Ryan's attacks by tearfully claiming that he didn't think she was good enough for him anyway. Finally, Sharpay decided to leave her house and go to Troy's. She couldn't stand to listen to any more of the end of a relationship. It was time to start a new one.

**Definitely not the happiest chapter, but I think its important plotwise, and I hope you like the mini-cliffhanger at the end. **

**Also, I'm thinking about changing the title of this story to "Ends and Means," and was wondering if you think that's a good change, or if you have any other ideas for titles I'd love to hear them.**

**Let me know what you think about that and the chapter.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	16. Success

**Much thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I'm really glad when readers can appreciate chapters even when they're not very cheery and don't have too much action.**

**A note on this chapter: there is a very sexually explicit scene in this chapter. I say that as a disclaimer but more (because if you've made it this far you probably won't be offended) as a warning that it may not be very good. As I said in an earlier note, I really don't like sex scenes just for their own sake, and because of that I don't get much practice reading or writing them, so I hope this comes across well.**

Troy Bolton didn't look good. He had been devastated ever since Gabriella broke up with him the day before, and had completely neglected both personal hygiene and the outside world ever since. So when his doorbell rang, he had no desire to answer it, but when he realized that his parents were away, and that the person at the door wasn't going away, he reluctantly got up.

"Sharpay," Troy said, obviously surprised to see her. "Hi Troy," Sharpay said shyly. This was partly an act, but for the most part it was simply genuine nervousness. "I heard what happened between you and Gabriella, and well…I wanted to see how you're doing." Troy looked as if he was trying to say something reassuring, but couldn't even force the words out of his mouth, and instead just chose to let the silence speak for itself. "That good huh?" Sharpay asked, easily reading Troy's face. "It's been a rough week," he admitted heavily, "do you want to come in?" Troy asked, realizing that they were still standing in his doorway and suddenly feeling like some company wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. "Yeah," she responded quietly, knowing that this was a positive sign.

"So why did you do it?" Sharpay asked as they went into Troy's room and sat down. Her tone wasn't accusatory, merely curious. Sharpay had decided to continue to pretend to be completely ignorant of the situation. This way she could both see how much he remembered of the truth and have a chance to open up to her. It seemed to work, and Troy's face changed immediately. "I didn't!" he insisted adamantly, "I mean, I don't remember if I did. But I can't understand why I would. You know that I'd never cheat on Gabi," he said, still obviously confused by what had happened. Sharpay took a while to respond after she realized that even in his confusion and anguish, Troy's eyes looked so warm and inviting.

"What do you remember?" She finally asked. "I don't know," Troy said looking very downtrodden, "honestly, it's all just a blur," Troy said sounding frustrated, "I remember that I definitely didn't want to go to the party, but the guys dragged me out, then I remember still being upset about Gabriella, and drinking a lot. I mean, _a lot_. But then…it all gets hazy from there. I _think _I remember being in a room with Gabriella. I don't know how she got there. Hell, I don't know how I got there, but I could have sworn that she said she wanted to be with me. So I started kissing her. But then I saw Gabriella again, only she wasn't the one I was kissing, she was at the door. And she didn't look happy. After that, nothing. I think I just kind of blacked out. She came to my house the next morning, and demanded an explanation. I told her what I told you, but it probably made even less sense since I was more hungover than I've ever been in my life. I guess it wasn't good enough, because she broke up with me and hasn't said a word to me since. Not that I can really blame her, or anyone really…it was all my fault." Troy finished, and Sharpapy could tell that it was the most he had said in a while.

"Wow, that's…wow," Sharpay said, sounding extremely concerned, and she genuinely was. Even though she had been the one to orchestrate the whole thing, and even though she knew all of the details that Troy couldn't recall, her worry for Troy was real. "Yeah," Troy said, "I think I might have figured everything out though."

"Oh?' Sharpay asked, hoping that Troy hadn't picked up on the fear in her voice. "Yeah," Troy said, "it would be easy to just say that I was too drunk to realize what was going on. But there's more to it than that," he told her, causing Sharpay to squirm slightly in her seat. "I wanted to be with Gabriella so much. I just wanted things between us to be right again, and I wanted to make her happy. So I…I don't know, hallucinated, or something. And I convinced myself that it was her that I was with."

"Yeah, that could be it," Shrapay said, just glad that his explanation didn't involve her in any way. "I know it sounds stupid, but…"

"It doesn't sound stupid," Sharpay said reassuringly, "Strange things happen when you're in love," she told him, a statement that she knew very well from experience, "or at least, when you think you are," she added. The gears in her brain were once again turning rapidly, and she tried to sound as if this last comment was off-hand. "What do you mean?" Troy asked, intrigued by what the blonde had said. "I know it's not my place to say, but to be perfectly honest I always thought that you and Gabiella moved too quickly. Actually it kind of seemed like she took you for granted," Sharpay told Troy. "You really think so?" Troy asked, his voice making it clear that he had never thought that his relationship was anything but perfect.

"Yeah, kind of," Sharpay admitted softly. "Don't get me wrong. Gabriella is a very nice girl and I can see why you were so crazy about her, but to me it always seemed that after the callbacks, you guys lost some of the magic that you had when you first met. I think you guys fell in love with the 'stranger from the ski lodge,' not with each other," Sharpay said, and then put on an embarrassed and guilt-ridden face, "oh wow…I came over here to help you and I end up mocking your relationship. You must completely hate me," she said, feigning disappointment with herself. "No, I could never hate you," Troy told her, not realizing that his words had taken a fairly romantic turn until they left his mouth and he saw Sharpay blush slightly. "I know shouldn't be saying this, especially not now," Sharpay spoke, starting to say the most honest sentence that she had uttered in longer than she could remember, "but I've always really liked you Troy. Watching you and Gabriella these past couple of months has been harder than you know. I'm sorry to tell you this now, like this, but I thought you should know."

Troy was silent for some time before speaking. "Wow," he said, "I had no idea. Why didn't you ever say anything to me? I've never known you to keep your thoughts to yourself," he said, with a small smile that was his first since being dumped by Gabriella. Sharpay returned his smile and responded,"It's one thing to say that I think a song needs to be changed, and something completely different to make yourself so…vulnerable to another person," Sharpay said earnestly and almost even meekly, "but now I know that I needed to take that risk. I needed to do it for me, and for you, because all that matters to me right now is making you feel better," Sharpay said, placing her hand on Troy's leg and giving him a meaningful look that made him realize for the first time just how close they had been sitting. Sharpay looked into his eyes, and it was clear that he was silently fighting with himself. Finally, he spoke and said something that Sharpay had been waiting so long for, "That matters to me a lot too right now," Troy told her as he met her gaze and placed his hand on hers.

He leaned forward enough to place a gentle kiss on her lips, one that electrified Sharpay completely, and she knew that she never wanted his lips to leave hers. Unfortunately they did, and very abruptly. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Troy asked after pulling away slightly, though she could still feel the warmth of his breath on her face. "Absolutely. I want you Troy. I want all of you," she said, her meaning clear. Troy smiled again and returned to his original position. This time the kiss was deeper and he allowed his hands to explore her body, first going down her neck and around her shoulders, then sliding them down to her thighs, making Sharpay feel both excited and comforted at the same time. She responded by placing her own hands on Troy's chest, and allowing them to roam down his stomach and caress his muscles.

Growing more turned on by Sharpay's caresses, Troy moved his hands up her shirt and started to tease her breasts. At first, he gently rubbed her over her bra, and then worked his hands underneath that as well, so that he was touching her bare flesh, causing Sharpay to throw her head back in pleasure, and Troy immediately started bringing his kisses lower, starting at her neck, and eliciting low moans from her. He then fully removed her shirt and bra and, after taking a moment to take in her body, started moving his kisses even lower. Sharpay didn't want Troy's caresses and licks to ever end, and they only got more intense as he moved down and started tor remove her skirt. But before he could do more, she stopped him momentarily. "You're wearing far too many clothes," she said, and moved to take off his shirt. She was so surprised and grateful that things were going so well that she wanted to give Troy the sort of pleasure that she was giving him.

She moved her hand over the bulge in his pants, and then, looking Troy in the eye, moved to remove his pants and stroke him freely. This earned Sharpay some deep moans from Troy, who had closed his eyes in ecstasy. These moans increased when Sharpay put Troy on his back and took his length into her mouth slowly. At first, she licked him tentatively, still slightly in shock that this was actually happening. But when she noticed how much pleasure Troy was gaining from this, she became more enthusiastic and thrust him in and out of her mouth. She did this until she felt Troy's hands, which had been resting gently on her head encouraging her motions, gently pull her up. "Something wrong?" Sharpay asked. "Not at all," Troy said, shooting her a lazy grin, "I just didn't want to…finish…too soon," he said, and she understood after a few seconds. "So, are you ready?" he asked her, moving to hold her in his arms. "Yeah," she told him with a smile. Troy got up and grabbed his wallet, taking out a condom. "I'm not the kind of guy that walks around with these, but I kind of thought me and Gabi were about to-"

"It's fine Troy," she said, cutting him off mostly because she couldn't bear to hear him talk about Gabriella. In response, Troy approached her, and Sharpay was once again stunned by the mere fact that their bodies were so close, and she knew that soon they would become even closer. Everything that she had done would pay off, and they would be happier than anyone ever though possible. Sharpay was taken out of her thoughts and blissfully thrown into the moment by the feeling of Troy entering her. While she wasn't exactly inexperienced, she was still a virgin, and the feeling of him inside her hurt slightly at first, but not as much as she had anticipated, and any pain that she felt was erased by the feeling of him inside her and the fact that he was staring directly into her eyes, as if nothing else mattered. Sharpay nodded her head slightly to let him know that it was alright to continue, and she felt him start to slowly move in and out of her, while keeping his body as close as possible to hers, and rubbing his hands up and down her body. The whole experience was entirely otherworldly, and Sharpay felt as though she were truly alive for the first time, and she just knew that Troy felt the same way. For a brief second he had seemed to break his gaze, almost in shame, but Sharpay told herself that she was imagining things, and even if she had wanted to dwell on this, she was too enraptured to focus on much other than the sensations of Troy inside of her.

After what felt like it could have been anywhere from seconds to days, Sharpay could tell that she was about to release. And from Troy's increased tempo she could tell that he was close as well. And so, with a few final thrusts into the other's body, they came together and Troy collapsed at Sharpay's side, her hand gripping his tightly.

**That would be a nice place to end, but there's a bit more playing to be done.**

**Thanks for reading and let me know what you thought.**


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